Sweet Dreams
by Lucky Strike's alter ego
Summary: Ilaria escapes her demonic father, ruler of the Dream Dimension, to seek sanctuary on her home planet Earth where she bumps into the Avengers. Having no idea how to deal with a being from another dimension, they seek out Doctor Strange for help. Ilaria begins a journey of trying to fit into a world she barely remembers while Stephen begins a journey of trying to understand Ilaria.
1. Chapter One

**Author's Note: So I decided to finally post the Doctor Strange fanfiction I mentioned on my profile page. I've had it lying around for a while and I'd kind of like to see what people think of it. So please don't get mad at me because I know I haven't updated my other stories 'Dry Bite' and 'Rose Garden Dreams' in a long time. I just had this lying around for a while and I felt like posting it.**

 **This story is in no way connected to 'Some Things Never Sleep' which is my Peter Parker/OC fanfic. This is completely separate.**

 **'Sweet Dreams' takes place post Doctor Strange and post Avengers: Age of Ultron. It's completely AU after that so I won't be acknowledging the Civil War and Infinity War movies in this story.**

 **I also kind of loosely based this character off Raven Roth from the DC universe. They'll have similar powers and everything but their personalities are way different. I just felt like someone like Raven could fit in really well into the MCU and especially with Doctor Strange considering all the dimensions, astral projection, and the like.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Ilaria in this story. I don't even own Nightmare since he's an actual real Marvel villain(specifically one of Doctor Strange's top enemies). He's super creepy and evil so I thought I would bring him into this story although I kind of changed his appearance a bit.**

 **I hope you enjoy the story and let me know what you think.**

* * *

There was a darkness that lurked within her.

Ilaria was made aware of this since she came into her father's care…or until he took her away from her mother at least. This happened many years ago. Ilaria was just a small child when her father took her away from her home planet and brought her to a place that was nowhere near as bright and warm as her mother's planet. It was more like a forgotten wasteland than an actual place. Her father called it his "kingdom" but to most it was known as the Dream Dimension.

Ilaria hated the Dream Dimension more than anything else. It was full of darkness and ugliness which was a constant reminder to Ilaria just what she was. She didn't like thinking about what she was. As much as Ilaria liked to think of herself as human, she wasn't stupid. She knew that she wasn't human like her mother. Ilaria wished she was so that her father wouldn't have wanted her but she was never the lucky sort.

"Daughter! Where are you?!" Her father's commanding voice yelled out. Ilaria had been in the library of her father's palace. She knew the word palace was a bit of a stretch. It looked more like one of those big abandoned haunted castles she used to see in those old horror films her mother left on during Halloween. Ilaria always loved Halloween even though she hadn't been able to leave the house at the time. Ilaria hadn't been able to leave the house ever but she still missed her home planet just the same.

"I'm coming, father!" Ilaria called back as she tiredly got up from the seat she had been sitting in by the window. She didn't why she always liked sitting by the window. It's not like it ever looked any different out there.

The Dream Dimension was empty looking as Ilaria said before. The sky was so purple which also made it dark. It was like that all the time in the Dream Dimension. Ilaria hated how dark it always was. The land was filled with decay and there wasn't even a single flower that was planted in the soil. Ilaria believed the place reeked of death from the constant torment her father bestowed on the humans he kept imprisoned within the dungeons of the palace. The humans weren't really imprisoned in the palace. It was just their subconscious mind that was trapped there while they slept back in their homeworld. That didn't mean that the humans still didn't get injured from their time in her father's dimension. Her father certainly had an effect on people. That much was obvious.

"You better hurry, Your Highness. The king sounds like it might be urgent." Vareen said as he tried to hurry the princess along. Vareen was a servant in the palace who tended to the library and he was the closest thing Ilaria could have to a friend in this place. He was a winged creature that resembled something closer to a goat than a man. His fur was a dark brown color while his eyes were silver.

Vareen also had the longest and most beautiful pair of horns perched on the top of his head. Ilaria always admired their beauty but Vareen once told her that his horns signaled how old he was. She always asked just exactly how old he was but he never gave her a straight answer. She liked to think he was a million years old and had seen every dimension and planet that was out there.

She couldn't imagine all the things Vareen had seen in his long life nor could she even begin to fathom it. Ilaria just wondered how he came to be imprisoned by her father. It must've been so painful to have seen so many worlds yet to be imprisoned in a dimension like this one...to spend the rest of your existence in a place filled with death and horror. Maybe Ilaria was better off not having seen anything of what the universe had to offer. It made being stuck in this wasteland much more bearable.

"When is it ever not urgent where the king is concerned?" Ilaria grumbled and Vareen just smiled at her as he put a book away.

"You should still hurry along, Princess. We all know how unpleasant the king can be when he's kept waiting." Vareen informed her and Ilaria thought that was the understatement of the year.

"I know, Vareen. I'll see you later, okay?" Ilaria said as she shot him a small smile before leaving the library. He gave her a short nod.

"I'll be waiting right here, Your Highness." He told her politely and Ilaria finally left the library although that was the last thing she wanted to do right now. She loved the library. It was like her own little sanctuary or hiding place from her father. She spent nearly all her time in there just to be away from her father. Ilaria hated her father and she wasn't being dramatic when she said that either.

She meant it.

* * *

Ilaria walked through the halls of the palace…the same so called palace that she had grown up in. She hated how cold and dark it always was.

Why was everything so dark here?

It was so depressing.

The guards stood outside the throne room of the palace. Ilaria wrinkled her nose in disgust when she saw them. They were her father's hideous little pets that acted as guards when really all they were was slobbering evil looking goblins. Their skin looked rotten and their yellow eyes were narrowed into a constant glare. Ilaria always hated the sight of them. She hated the way they watched her and she also hated the way they licked their lips as though she might be something good to eat. They even smelled like decay and it was entirely revolting to Ilaria.

"I'm here to see my father." Ilaria told them both, trying to keep the fear and disgust out of her voice. "Let me through." The two guards obliged and the doors to the throne room opened on their own. Ilaria took a deep breath before entering.

The throne room was large and open but at the same time dark and eerie looking. The room was filled with ancient artifacts her father had been collecting since he was first born. It was almost like a creepy abandoned museum of some sort.

It was then that Ilaria's eyes finally fell upon her father who was sitting on his throne with his usual commanding presence. The throne was worn looking and seemed to be falling apart but her father never cared for the way things looked. That much was obvious. Ilaria took a good look at her father who looked as sinister as ever.

Nightmare.

Believe it or not that was his name…a name he had given himself when he was just a child. It was a very fitting name too or so Ilaria thought at least. Her father was a thing of nightmares which was why the name was so fitting. He was a creature so evil that upon his birth he killed his own mother and father in cold blood.

By the age of eight he had killed beings from many dimensions. The numbers were so high that Ilaria was afraid to keep track. By the age of thirteen he had taken over the Dream Dimension and declared himself it's ruler which was when he gave himself the name Nightmare. This was thousands of years ago and well before Ilaria's time but she had read enough books in the library to know how her father came to be.

"Daughter…I see you've finally made an appearance. I called for you ten minutes ago, did I not?" Nightmare said, sounding very annoyed. Ilaria looked back at the face of her father…Nightmare. He was a terrifying creature to most but Ilaria had grown used to his appearance over time.

Ilaria and him shared a couple of traits with each other although it was still too many for Ilaria's liking. From their lavender colored skin to their pointed ears that were almost elf like in nature and then their locks of vibrant dark purple hair. However, that's where the similarities ended looks wise. Ilaria's other features were rather human which was from her mother's side. She actually shared the same eyes as her mother's which were a beautiful hazel while her father's eyes were a startling red. He had fangs of his own that he always displayed whenever he had that evil and devious smirk on her face but Ilaria didn't have fangs. Her father always said it was because of the human in her but he said it like it was a bad thing.

"Sorry, Father. I was just reading in the library." Ilaria told him as she kneeled before him. She was always so obedient. Ilaria always did what she was supposed to. Her father was a cruel creature and she had seen the wrath he bestowed upon those who angered him. Ilaria didn't wish to be that person. Nightmare scoffed at his daughter's excuse.

"Always in the library. You practically live in the library." Nightmare complained loudly. "We might as well put your bed in there."

"I wouldn't mind it, Father." Ilaria remarked as she stood back up and Nightmare rolled his eyes at her.

"Of course you wouldn't." Nightmare said bitterly. "If you spent as much time mastering my teachings as you do reading in that library then you would've already have killed me and taken over the dimension."

"Sorry, Father." Ilaria apologized, knowing that it was better to apologize than argue with her father. There was really no point in arguing with him. "I'll pay more attention to your teachings. I promise."

"You better." Nightmare said sternly as he looked upon his young daughter who was now a woman. She was much older than the small child he had taken from Earth many years ago. "Your lazy and arrogant sister already failed me years ago. Your brother was even more disappointing. I will not have you fail me too."

"I understand, Father." Ilaria said and a smirk came across Nightmare's face.

"Although I don't think even you, being half human, could disappoint me as much as your brother." Nightmare said jokingly. "Isn't that right, ladies?"

He then looked back at the three giggling succubuses. Her father's three wives that Ilaria almost hated as much as her father. Almost. They were seated on a large lavish looking couch off to the right side of her father's throne. The group of wives looked to be having the time of their lives as they relaxed in the throne room, showered with riches and a large assortment of extravagant food...well, it was extravagant for this dimension anyways.

"He was quite the fool, My Love." Zaara, her father's first wife, said in agreement. Her eyes were as red and eerie looking as Ilaria's father's eyes were. However, like her father's other wives, Zaara's hair was a striking green color which contrasted against her pale chalky white skin.

"It's too bad that you had to get rid of him." Naria, her father's second wife, added.

"Yes. It was very sad." Villianelle, the third wife, pouted although Ilaria knew she was only feigning sadness. "He was very handsome, after all."

"It was my fault for breeding with a light elf." Nightmare said as Ilaria fought the urge to scream in anger or to cry. She had loved her brother very much. Even though he had been dead for years, she still missed him every day. He was the only one who had taken care of her in this evil place. "My dear son was too compassionate. It was his downfall."

"Ilaria's even worse." Zaara said as she gave the purple haired girl a disgusted look. "She's half human. What could be worse?" Ilaria didn't say anything as she just averted her gaze from theirs. She was used to the ridicule and disgust at this point. This wasn't anything new.

"There is one good thing about humans." Nightmare mentioned as he gave his daughter a smug look. "They're frightful creatures which makes them very obedient when needed. Just look at Ilaria. I could not ask for a more obedient daughter. Isn't that right, Ilaria?"

"Of course, Father." Ilaria replied as she tried to force the angry thoughts about her late brother away.

She had never known her brother's real name. Only the title her father had given him which had been Trauma but she had only referred to him as brother and he referred to her as sister. He hadn't done anything wrong. Her brother had just shown mercy to one of the human prisoners. Her father punished him for his insolence by killing him and hanging him above the entrance to the palace as a warning to everyone that no one was safe from Nightmare's wrath. Not even his son. Ilaria had only been around twelve at the time and she had never truly recovered. She didn't think she ever would.

"You must be wondering why I've brought you here." Nightmare said as he changed the subject. Ilaria didn't really want to know why he brought her there but she knew better than to say that aloud.

"Yes." She said, playing along with her father's usual antics.

"I've received word that Dormammu has fled Earth." Nightmare said, looking very intrigued as he told Ilaria this.

Ilaria gave him a confused look. For a moment she thought she heard him wrong. Dormammu? Ilaria knew fully well who that was. Dormammu was only the leader of the Dark Dimension. He was one of the most powerful beings in all the dimensions other than her father. Despite her father always acting like Dormammu's best friend, she knew the two beings only tolerated each other. Both were incredibly powerful beings that knew better than to try to fight each other for power. Her father had settled for the Dream Dimension and Dormammu remained in the Dark Dimension. That was their silent agreement and they both respected that agreement even to this day.

"Fled Earth? I thought you said he was trying to bring the Dark Dimension _to_ Earth?" Ilaria questioned, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Apparently he was scared off by some pathetic human." Nightmare said as he grinned in delight. Ilaria didn't know why her father seemed so amused by this news. She thought he'd be disgusted or angry.

"How can that be? He's Dormammu. The Cosmic Conqueror." Ilaria said, still bewildered at the idea that a human could do that much damage. Nightmare just snickered.

"Apparently this human was more irritating than most." Nightmare told her as Ilaria took in this information. "I've been told he's one of those human sorcerers. One of the ones who thinks he knows everything about all the dimensions."

" _Does_ he know everything about the dimensions?" Ilaria asked and Nightmare just grinned at her before shaking his head.

"If he did then he'd know about this one, wouldn't he?" Nightmare said smugly. "None of the humans have so much as a clue about the Dream Dimension."

"Should we be worried, Father? This human's already chased off Dormammu." Ilaria said as she wondered if she'd be lucky enough for this human sorcerer to come around and chase her father off too. Maybe he'd even know how to kill her father although she doubted it. Her father was one of the most powerful beings in existence. She didn't even think she could defeat him. How could she expect a human too? "What if we're next?" Nightmare scoffed.

"Don't give the humans too much credit, My Daughter." Nightmare said, sounding very sure of himself. "The Dream Dimension is far beyond his or any other human's reach. We're safe here. We're untouchable."

"What should we do then?" Ilaria asked and Nightmare grew serious as he looked down at his daughter.

"I say we do nothing about this human. Let him experiment with all the dimensions he wants. He'll never find this one." Nightmare said nonchalantly before something else came to mind. "In the mean time, however, we shall prepare for your ceremony tomorrow night."

Ilaria forced herself not to frown at this news. Her ceremony. The very thing she had been dreading for the past twenty years…ever since her father took her and kept her prisoner in this dimension. He made sure that she learned her destiny early on. Her destiny in becoming a ruler of another dimension like the Dream Dimension. Nightmare wanted to give her the Fear Dimension to rule over. Ilaria didn't think she was the kind of person to rule over such a dimension with so much darkness in it but it was what her father demanded so she had to allow it.

The ceremony was supposed to be a big deal. It would be the night she received her proper title and the night she would stop aging. The beginning of her eternal life or so her father always told her. Ilaria didn't want this life. Some yearned for eternal life but Ilaria only saw immortality as spending eternity under her father's control. It was like a life long prison sentence but in Ilaria's case it was much worse because her life wasn't short like a human's. She'd be her father's slave for eternity.

"The ceremony. I almost forgot." Ilaria said in a small voice and her father raised an eyebrow.

"How could you have forgotten?" Nightmare questioned before rolling his eyes. "Of course. It must be the human in you. Humans are always such forgetful creatures."

"Yes, Father." Ilaria said obediently despite hating her father's tone when he talked about the human part of her. She hated how he looked down at her as if he found the human part of her revolting. He never ceased reminding her of how weak and pathetic she was because of her disadvantage of being part human.

Ilaria knew that she would rather be part human than part of what he was…a demon. She meant that literally too. Her father was a demonic entity so there was some truth to the saying that some people were born evil. Ilaria's father really was born evil. Ilaria just didn't know what she was. Good or evil. She really had no clue. How could she be good if she was born from someone as evil and sadistic as her father? No. Ilaria must be evil too. She just had to be.

"Now head back to your chambers at once. Make sure everything's in order for the ceremony tomorrow." Nightmare ordered as he dismissed her. Ilaria nodded.

"Yes, Father." She said, once again being the obedient daughter. Her father nodded at her in return.

Without another word, Ilaria then began to exit the throne room. The only feeling she felt was relief as she left the room so that she could finally be away from her father and his wives. She was always relieved to be away from her father. Ilaria doubted the feeling would ever change. She would always resent her father for being an evil being while he would resent her for being part human.

It was a never ending cycle.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I know most of you are probably wondering about Ilaria's powers and more of her backstory with her father and mother but a lot more will be discussed in the next chapter as well as future chapters. This is only the first chapter so there's way more to come.**


	2. Chapter Two

**Author's Note: Here's another chapter! Thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows last chapter. I'm really glad you guys are liking the story and I'll try to have another chapter out soon. It'll still be a couple chapters before Ilaria and Stephen will meet but she will meet the Avengers next chapter.**

 **I actually did make up another character for this story other than Ilaria which is Vareen who is the librarian/servant imprisoned in Nightmare's palace. He'll have a bigger part in this chapter. If you have some trouble imagining him just picture Fauno from Pan's Labyrinth. That's who I kind of based Vareen off of looks wise.**

 **I also just want to say that I don't own Dreamstalker which is another character from Marvel comics and who will also show up in this chapter.**

 **readeratheart8128: Thank you! I'm glad you like the story and I get what you mean about Doctor Strange. There's hardly any Doctor Strange fanfics on here. There's only one that I found that I actually liked but that was it so I decided to make my own which is the same reason I did 'Some Things Never Sleep'. Christine will still be in this story as Stephen's love interest for a while but this is a Doctor Strange/OC pairing so eventually Ilaria and Stephen will end up together but not for some time. I love writing slow burn stories in case you couldn't tell.**

 **Purplestan: I'm glad you like it and I'll try to have another chapter out soon.**

 **Thanks to Another random account for reviewing last chapter as well.**

 **I hope you like the chapter and let me know what you think.**

* * *

"Princess, stand still." One of Ilaria's handmaidens said. Her handmaidens were fairy looking creatures with their slender figures and large wings but they weren't as colorful or happy as the fairies you read about in fairytales. Their skin was a sad looking gray, their wings torn and weathered, and their eyes as gray as their skin. Her handmaidens were sad and miserable looking creatures just like all the creatures in this dimension.

Ilaria didn't know their names. Her father said that the names of their servants was forbidden knowledge. They were only servants and were not worthy of having names or being talked to as equals. Ilaria never cared for those rules. She was too lonely to honor those rules but her handmaidens refused to talk to her on a friendly level. They were professional and that was it.

"Sorry." Ilaria mumbled as she tried to stand more still. They were currently dressing her for the ceremony which was mere hours away. Her handmaidens fitted her in a black gown. It was simple in color and design. The dress was long sleeved, the neckline lowcut, and the bodice clung to her torso like a second skin while the dress from the waist down hung loose against her form. The skirt of her dress only ended at her ankles.

"Raise your arms, Princess." One of the other handmaidens told her and Ilaria did as she was asked. The handmaidens then proceeded to put on her cloak which was an even darker purple than her hair. The cloak hung loosely off her form and felt soft against her skin. The cloak was only supposed to be for the ceremony. It was tradition.

"There you go, Princess. We're all done for now." The first handmaiden told her as she smiled at Ilaria.

"You're ready for the ceremony. I think the king will be very pleased." The other one told her. Ilaria faked a smile as she nodded.

"I can only hope to make him proud." Ilaria told them but her voice was empty. She didn't seem as happy as she should've been.

This should've been a happy occasion, right? The ceremony was tonight. _Her_ ceremony. She would finally get her title just like her sister had received hers nearly a thousand years before her. Her sister was the entity known as Dream Queen. It was a ridiculous sounding name but these were the titles they were given once they participated in their ceremony. Her brother had been Trauma and Ilaria was to become Daydream.

She would be Daydream.

Ruler of the Fear Dimension.

The Fear Dimension was never supposed to be hers. It had belonged to her brother when he was still alive. It was suited to him given the fact that her brother's powers allowed him to shapeshift into his victim's darkest and most dreaded fear. Ilaria's powers were nothing like the sort. Ilaria was an empath who was able to sense the emotions of others as well as manipulate them to her choosing. It wasn't the only power she had either. She was very gifted in astral projection which could be a learned skill for many but it was something Ilaria was born with although Ilaria could not stay outside her body long. Teleportation and energy projection were also some of her abilities. Some might say she was a powerful being but she was nothing in comparison to her father.

Nightmare haunted the dreams of tormented beings across the universe. Usually he only preyed on humans since humans were the weakest and most emotional. Her father would feed on their fear and anguish which only made him more and more powerful. Although they were only supposed to be dreams, the damage could still be very real. It was impossible to destroy her father because he lived off fear. As long as there would be fear, her father would exist.

Ilaria was meant to be like her father once she went through the ceremony. Something to be feared. The ceremony would be the first step in embarking on this dark journey. It might've seemed like a good thing for her to be allowed to rule over her own dimension but Ilaria feared the very idea. How was she supposed to instill fear in others? She wasn't scary and she most certainly didn't like the idea of trying to scare people. She didn't understand why this was needed. However, her father commanded her to do this so she had to listen. This was supposed to be her life now.

"We'll leave you until one of the servants comes to fetch you for the ceremony, Your Highness." One of her handmaidens told her. Ilaria barely managed to smile as she nodded.

"Of course. Thank you." She told them. They only nodded before they both vacated her chambers and Ilaria was left alone.

She tried making herself happy for the ceremony. She tried telling herself that this would be a good thing. But somehow she couldn't be happy even if she tried really hard. Ilaria supposed she wasn't like her sister who had been estatic to receive her title and immortality. Her heart just wasn't in it.

Ilaria then allowed her thoughts to drift towards her mother and her home planet. She didn't remember much about her mother or Earth anymore. It had been years since she had been there. Ilaria didn't even remember the name she had before all this. The human name her mother had given her. She also didn't remember her mother's name either. Her mother who had the very same hazel eyes she had as well as the same delicate pixie features. She remembered her mother's hair had been a dishwater blonde that her mother always left down. Her face was incredibly kind and beautiful.

Ilaria snapped out of the flashback of her mother. What was the point of thinking of her mother now of all times? Her mother couldn't help her now. She was just a distant fading memory. Her mother had probably long forgotten about her anyways. She probably had a new family now. A kind and loyal husband, a cute little boy, and a daughter who was normal. Her mother could probably take her new daughter to the park without causing a riot. Her new daughter wasn't the spawn of such evil like Ilaria was.

"Princess, the ceremony's about to start." A servant boy said as he popped his head into her chambers. Ilaria was once again broken out of her thoughts. "I'm here to escort you to the ceremonial chambers."

"Yes, of course." Ilaria said as she immediately started heading for the door. It was time for the ceremony. There was no more delaying it. In a couple short hours she would be Daydream. Ruler of the Fear Dimension. It would be the start of eternity as her father's slave.

There was nothing Ilaria wished more than to run away far from her father. But where would she go? Her teleportation skills weren't that great. She could only teleport herself from one end of the palace to the other. She still couldn't manage to travel long distances. Ilaria knew better than anyone else that there wasn't any escape. She was trapped here…destined to become the very thing she feared. To become as evil as her father. There was no way out. This was Ilaria's destiny and she was just going to have to accept it. She was her father's daughter.

What other outcome could she possibly have?

* * *

The princess waited outside the ceremonial chambers alone as she listened for her signal to enter the chambers. The servant boy had left her alone to tend to his chores. She could already hear her father and the succubuses in the chambers, doing their ceremonial chants as they started the ceremony off. Her throat felt increasingly thick with emotion as she began to panic. Here it was…her ceremony. The night her life became truly doomed for eternity. Ilaria was just about to continue to brood about the upcoming event when she heard a voice a short distance away.

"Princess!" A hoarse voice whispered. Ilaria immediately turned her head to look down the dark and empty corridor of the palace. She squinted her eyes as she spotted a familiar figure lurking in the shadows. Her eyes then widened in recognition.

"Vareen?" Ilaria questioned as she spotted the familiar goat like figure. Vareen quickly made his way over to her, his silvery eyes scanning the corridor quickly to make sure they were alone. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come for you, Princess." He told her and Ilaria gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean?" She asked the old creature and he continued to stare back at her.

"I've come to get you out of here." He elaborated but Ilaria was still puzzled.

"Get me out of here?" Ilaria questioned in a hushed voice. "What are you talking about, Vareen?"

"I'm helping you escape. You must come with me right now." Vareen told her. "I can get you out of here but it has to be right here and now."

"Vareen, you can get killed just for talking about this. My father killed my brother for a lot less." She told him.

"You can't finish the ceremony. You need to leave now." He told her and Ilaria just looked at him in disbelief.

"I can't just leave, Vareen." Ilaria told him, sounding frightened. "You know that." Vareen then gave her an annoyed look as he rested his hoof on her arm. Ilaria looked at him in shock. This was so unlike Vareen. He was never this bold and he most certainly never acted this crazy.

"If you stay here your father will keep you in the Fear Dimension for all eternity. You'll never get the chance to leave again." He told her seriously and Ilaria felt breathless at what he was telling her. He was describing her deepest and darkest fear to her. "Why do you think he's forbidden you from reaching your full potential? Why do you think he hasn't given you his full knowledge?"

"I-I don't know." Ilaria said nervously as she started to consider what he was telling her.

"He's afraid of how powerful you are. He's trying to prevent you from escaping him." Vareen told her and everything suddenly made more sense.

Her father always complained about how she never applied herself to their lessons but she was starting to realize that he never gave her the proper tools to do so. There was a forbidden section in the library he banned her from and not to mention there were certain areas of her powers that he didn't teach her. He didn't dare teach her anything about teleportation or energy projection. Ilaria realized that he was trying to stop her from leaving or fighting against him.

"He's afraid of me?" Ilaria questioned and Vareen nodded.

"He'll do to you what he did to your brother if you become too powerful." Vareen said as he gave her a pleading look. "Please, Princess. Please come with me right now."

Ilaria stood there as she contemplated what she was going to do. This was possibly the toughest decision she had ever made. She could either stay here and spend eternity bound to her father or she could leave and wait for him to hunt her down before he killed her like her brother. Ilaria remembered her brother when he faced death after freeing the humans from their father's torment. He hadn't been scared when their father killed him. He had faced their father without fear and accepted his fate because he knew death was better than an eternity bound to Nightmare. If her brother had been that brave then she could be too. Facing her father's wrath was better than spending eternity inprisoned in the Fear Dimension. Ilaria swallowed hard before she nodded furiously.

"Let's go then." She told Vareen. The mythical looking creature gave her a single satisfied nod.

"Good." He said before he continued. "You'll have to summon a portal." Ilaria gave him a confused look.

"A portal?" She questioned. "Vareen, you know I'm not capable of teleporting myself out of this dimension. My teleporting capabilities are very poor."

"I only need you to teleport us to the stables." Vareen told her and Ilaria gave him a bewildered look.

"You're not actually suggesting-" Ilaria started to say but Vareen interupted her with a small smile on his face.

"I am suggesting it." He said before his face grew more grim. "However, we must hurry. It won't be long before your father realizes you're missing." Ilaria nodded.

"Okay." She said as she then prepared herself to open up a portal.

The purple haired princess held out her hands as she focused with all of her might on the space in between her hands. She pushed the thought of what her father would do to her if he discovered her out of her head. Her eyes narrowed as she used all the power she could muster, her hands trembling, and as luck would have it sparks of purple energy flew from her hands.

This was a challenging task since the most Ilaria could ever do was teleport herself from end of the palace to the other. It was seldom she ever tried teleporting herself to the grounds of the palace. It required a lot of power and it was starting to take it's toll on her. Ilaria smiled in relief when she saw the portal begin to open itself up and she could see the stables through the very same portal. She did it! She couldn't believe it. Ilaria guessed that's what happened when you were desperate.

"Let's go now. I can't hold it for long." Ilaria told him. Vareen just nodded before he nudged her along and she quickly flew up from the ground, flying through the portal with ease. Vareen followed her as he hopped through the very same portal. The portal closed the moment they reached the other side.

Ilaria looked back upon the palace which was quite a distance aways. Her father should be expecting her in the ceremonial chambers any minute now but instead she was here. Risking her life to follow whatever crazy plan Vareen had for her. She turned back as she looked across the wasteland of the Dream Dimension. She could see countless skeletons littered across the barren and desolate land. Nothing ever lived or thrived here. The whole dimension was filled with death. Ilaria couldn't wait to leave. Hopefully she would be able to actually leave without being killed by her father.

"We must be quiet now, Princess." Vareen whispered to her as he raised his hoof to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. They then quickly ducked behind a withering shrub along the garden filled with dead flowers and plants. Vareen and Ilaria hurried peeked above the shrub and noticed the guards doing their rounds as they guarded the stables. It was those same disgusting little goblins her father loved to keep as his pets. Ilaria really hated those things. They were like little scavengers who only feasted on rotted flesh.

"What's the plan, Vareen?" She asked him quietly and he looked up at her, his floppy little ears curling as he came up with a plan.

"One step at a time, Princess. First we shall take out the guards and from there we will get Dreamstalker." Vareen told her and Ilaria raised an eyebrow.

"How do we know Dreamstalker will even go with us? Maybe he'll call upon my father." Ilaria said, doubt in her tone but Vareen only smiled.

"If there's one person Dreamstalker adores more than your father…it's you." He told her affectionately and Ilaria only smiled softly before she nodded.

"So how are we going to do this?" She asked him and he grew serious once more.

"When they circle around to the back of the stables, we'll wait around each corner for them and then attack." Vareen told her and Ilaria raised an eyebrow.

"You seem like you know what you're doing." She said observantly and he only smiled at her.

"Before I was imprisoned here, Princess, I fought in many wars on my home planet." He informed her and Ilaria was delightfully surprised by this news. "Trust me. I do know what I'm doing."

"I never said I didn't trust you." Ilaria replied softly.

They then both turned their attention to the guards circling around the back of the stables. They both shared a look before nodding as they quickly made their way to the stables. Ilaria positioned herself at one corner of the stables while Vareen positioned himself at the other corner. She could hear the goblin getting closer and closer as he wobbled his way over to their side of the stables.

Ilaria took a deep breath as she prepared herself to use her powers once more. When she felt the goblin's presence grow closer to them, she searched out for his emotions. These little goblins or gorgoyles, as she sometimes called them, weren't complicated beings. They were never very smart and their emotions never changed much.

Hunger was the only emotion she could detect as she reached out through her mind and quickly lulled him to sleep. Her abilities as an empath were the only powers she had that she felt truly confident in so it only took a second before the evil little creature passed out and fell to the ground. He never even saw her. Ilaria smiled in satisfaction until she heard a grunt and a revolting sound from behind her.

She quickly turned around only to see Vareen standing there with the goblin's head in one hand and it's headless corpse laying on the ground. Green blood was splattered all over Vareen's face as he gave her a sheepish look. Ilaria crossed her arms and gave the old looking creature a pointed look.

"My apologies, Princess." Vareen told her sheepishly. "I'm not nearly as gentle as you."

"I can see that." Ilaria said in amusement before a serious look crossed their faces as they remembered that they didn't have a lot of time on their hands. "Come on, let's go. Those creatures always reek the most revolting odor. It's even worse now that they're dead believe it or not."

* * *

Ilaria and Vareen headed inside the stables, not wanting to waste anymore time. Ilaria didn't know when the goblin she put to rest would wake up. Her father was probably just realizing that she wasn't waiting outside the ceremonial chambers any longer. The stables didn't contain many horses other than one in particular. Her father's mount. Ilaria's eyes rested on the very horse they had come all this way for.

Dreamstalker.

Dreamstalker was both an eerie and beautiful looking horse. Possibly one of the most legendary creatures of all the dimensions. He was a massive creature with tattered yet powerful wings that looked like they could capture you in between them and keep you prisoner. Dreamstalker was majestic and black in color. His eyes were an angry looking red and his mane long and beautiful. The only other jawdropping feature of his was his horn that rested on the top of his head much like the unicorns humans always talked about in their folktales and myths. The very same horn that had pierced the hearts of many fearsome foes of her father's. He was a mean looking horse but Ilaria knew him better than that. He could be quite kind and gentle despite what the legends said.

"Dreamy." Ilaria murmured softly as she reached out and rubbed his forehead affectionately. He made a soft sound of satisfaction at her touch.

"Princess…" Vareen said softly, grabbing her attention as she turned back to him. "You must take Dreamstalker and reach the Forest of Dreamscapes before dawn comes upon us."

"What are you talking about, Vareen? I don't understand? The Forest of Dreamscapes?" Ilaria asked in confusion.

She knew what the Forest of Dreamscapes was. Her brother used to take her there as a child so that they could have a picnic and get away from their father. Just like the rest of the Dream Dimension, it wasn't very beautiful but it was peaceful in a strange way. The Forest of Dreamscapes held the spirits of all the beings imprisoned in the dimension who had been slaughtered by her father. It was a mystical place and very enchanting in an eerie way. However, Ilaria had not been back there since the death of her brother.

"Every time there's a ceremony, the Forest of Dreamscapes becomes home to hundreds of portals from every corner of the universe. Dimensions, planets…you name it." Vareen informed her and Ilaria was entirely intrigued at this point. "The dark energy conjured for the ceremony is enough power to summon all these portals. If you reach the Forest of Dreamscapes in time then you'll be able to leave through one of these portals."

"Really?" Ilaria questioned, completely blown away by this news. She could finally escape? It was really that simple? All she had to do was travel to the Forest of Dreamscapes and choose a portal then she was finally free. It was so hard to believe after all this time.

"Yes but you must leave right away. The portals will close soon." He told her as he pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. Ilaria just nodded as she immediately floated up into the air before seating herself on Dreamstalker's back. She ran her fingers through Dreamstalker's mane and the horse sighed in content. Ilaria then looked back down at Vareen and offered him her hand.

"Come on, Vareen. We must hurry then." Ilaria told him but the kind creature didn't move a single inch. He smiled up at her sadly.

"I'm afraid this is where I must leave you, Princess." He told her and Ilaria's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?" She questioned and he just shook his head. "Don't be silly, Vareen. My father will kill you if you stay here. You know that."

"I've lived a very long time, Princess. Thousands upon thousands of years. My dying wish was only to see you free." He told her and Ilaria could feel her eyes glisten with tears when she realized what he was saying. This was it. The end.

"You can't! You have to come with me! I can't do this alone." Ilaria told him but he just continued to smile at her.

"Yes, you can. You're stronger than you know." He said truthfully as his gaze then softened. "You must leave, Princess. You don't belong in a place like this. You're too good…too pure. You deserve to be free and happy."

"I'll miss you." Ilaria told him as the tears began to stream down her face. She was starting to realize that this was the last time she would ever see him…the last time she'd ever see him alive too. "I'll never forget you."

"You'll find your way, Princess. I know you will." He said softly. Ilaria swallowed hard before she leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss against his forehead, his soft fur brushing against her lips.

"Thank you." She told him and he continued to give her that wise smile.

"Don't look back." He made her promise.

Ilaria could only manage to nod before she tangled her fingers through Dreamstalker's mane. He made a loud neighing sound before he rose up and took off into the air. Ilaria flinched when she felt him start to take flight. The take off was abrupt and rough but it became smooth once Dreamstalker stretched out his wings and glided swiftly through the air.

Ilaria felt the overwhelming urge to turn back to look back at Vareen but she instead tangled her fingers further into Dreamstalker's mane to resist the urge. Her face was probably soaked with tears by now but she was beyond trying to control her emotions.

"DAUGHTER!" Her father's voice bellowed out through the dimension. Her heartbeat increased as she heard the anger and malice in her father's voice.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" He yelled out and Ilaria flinched again. Dreamstalker fidgeted around like he wanted to turn around and return to his master but Ilaria just hushed him, running her fingers soothingly through his mane. The mystical horse calmed down at once.

"It's okay, Dreamy." Ilaria told the horse but she didn't know who she was comforting. Her or Dreamstalker. She noticed that Dreamstalker flew much faster than she could. She could see the beginning of the Forest of Dreamscapes through the murky purple clouds.

"We're almost there." She told him and it was then that Dreamstalker began to drop down from the high altitude they were at. She held on more tightly to him as the dead looking trees of the forest came closer and closer. She closed her eyes for a moment as she ignored the pull she felt to her father. He was searching for her. That much she knew but Ilaria was good at hiding from him. She spent a lot of time practicing these past years she had spent in the Dream Dimension.

Dreamstalker began to fly through the forest, dodging all the trees in their path as he headed for the forest floor. She gulped as they narrowly missed a large looking tree trunk standing up by itself in the middle of the forest. Dreamstalker really seemed to have little care whether or not she ended up getting impaled by a tree trunk. Sure she'd heal but that didn't make it any less painful.

Ilaria held on tight to Dreamstalker as he finally landed on the forest floor with a loud thud. She could practically feel the ground tremble underneath Dreamstalker's large hooves. He galloped several steps as he steadied himself and Ilaria just kept her eyes closed until the landing was over. A moment later, she could feel Dreamstalker slow down and she realized that they had officially landed. Ilaria reluctantly opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings in wonder.

There was nothing remarkable about the Forest of Dreamscapes. It was just as barren looking as the rest of the Dream Dimension. There were swamps filled with murky purple water and Ilaria could tell there was something swimming around down there. Two little beady red eyes looking at her from the surface proved it. All the trees in the forest were dying, the trunks skinny and small while the trees also contained no leaves. There wasn't a lot of places to hide within the forest. It was that barren.

Ilaria looked down in disgust as Dreamstalker's hooves sunk down into the purple clay like forest floor. The purple clay came oozing up to the surface with every step Dreamstalker took. Ilaria couldn't wait to finally be free of this place. It was the most depressing and decay filled dimension of all the dimensions in the multi-verse. She just wanted to leave and never look back. Hopefully she made it in time to the portals. If she didn't make it then her father would inevitably kill her but she supposed death was better than spending the rest of her existence in this wasteland of lost souls and horrors.

"Keep going, Dreamy." Ilaria encouraged as they continued to trek through the forest. She flinched when she saw the sky flash an alarming shade of violet as purple lightning flashed through the sky. Thunder rumbled and Ilaria trembled from the very sound. This was her father's doing. She was sure of it.

Whispers could be heard through the forest but Ilaria knew this was normal. These were the whispers of all the lost people her father had tortured and killed. Their spirits still haunted the forest and would for eternity. Ilaria swallowed hard as she tried not to let herself get too scared. Now was not the time for her to be a coward. She needed to find the portals that Vareen was talking about and then she needed to make her escape.

 _"_ _Where is she going?"_ A voice whispered through the trees.

 _"_ _She's going to the place were the portals are at."_ Another voice answered.

 _"_ _She's going to escape? No one's ever escaped this dimension before. Only in death."_ Said another voice.

 _"_ _She's the daughter of Nightmare. If anyone's going to escape it'll be her. She's a special one."_ The first voice said. Ilaria shivered as she heard the voices whispering about her. It was slightly unsettling knowing that you were being watched by the very spirits who haunted the forest.

" _Princess."_ One of the voices called out to her as Dreamstalker trotted through the forest. Her breathing hitched when she realized they were calling for her. _"Princess, are you lost?"_ It took Ilaria a moment before she could respond to the spirit.

"I'm uh…trying to look for the portals." Ilaria said softly as she kept her eyes set on the path in front of her. "I don't have a clue as to where they are."

 _"_ _We know where they are."_ Another voice said eerily as it whispered through the wind. Ilaria felt her heart skip a beat in anticipation.

"Could you please show me the way? Please? I don't have much time left." Ilaria told them.

 _"_ _Of course, Princess. We'll show you the way."_ Yet another voice said. Ilaria suddenly felt hesitant at the willingness of the spirits to help her. Why should they want to help her? She was Nightmare's daughter, after all. They should want to kill the daughter of the man who murdered them.

"What do you want in return?" Ilaria asked suspiciously.

 _"_ _We only want you to be free. Nothing more and nothing less."_ One of the voices told her. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"But why?" She asked.

 _"_ _Nightmare has tormented all of us for far too long. Even in death. If someone escapes then at least that's a strike against him."_ A wise sounding voice told her. _"Your freedom is our victory."_

"Okay." Ilaria said softly, believing that they were genuine in their eagerness to help her.

 _"_ _Come along this way, Princess. Take a left."_ One of the voices told her. Ilaria saw that the direction the spirit was pointing her in was off the path. It was a deeper and darker part of the forst but she supposed she had nothing to lose at this point.

"Left." Ilaria told Dreamstalker as she patted him on his side. The massive horse took a left and veered off the path.

 _"_ _Hurry, Princess!"_ Another voice said as they ushered her along. _"Your father's hounds have just entered the forest. They're looking for you."_ Elaria swallowed hard as she felt overcome with fear. Oh no. Her father was getting close. She smacked Dreamstalker on his side, willing him to go faster through the forest.

" _Take a right!"_ A voice guided her and she gave the same direction to Dreamstalker. He was galloping through the dark and eerie forest at this point.

 _"_ _It's straight ahead, Princess! Straight ahead!"_ One of the voices called out and it was then that Ilaria came across a clearing. Dreamstalker slowed down but Ilaria was taken back by the sheer sight of what was in front of her.

In the clearing there was dozens upon dozens of portals littered all around. Her jaw dropped at the sight of all the portals. It was like looking at multiple windows into multiple worlds all at once. Dreamstalker stopped in the middle of the clearing and Ilaria didn't waste any time as she stepped down from the horse as she looked around the clearing in awe. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. In such an ugly and evil world this was a sight of pure beauty unlike anything she had seen in her existence.

"It's so beautiful." Ilaria whispered as she looked at all the portals. She could see a world covered in ice, glaciers covering the surface of the blindingly white planet. Another portal showed a world with volcanos covering the expanse of the planet, lava swarming every possible surface.

Ilaria looked through another portal and saw a glittering rainbow bridge leading to a city that looked all too perfect. Asgard. She had read a little about it from the books in the library to be able to tell what it was. She then turned her head and saw another portal. This one showed grassy plains and a bright sky with the sun overlooking an ocean. Ilaria knew what this world was.

Alfheim.

The land of the Light Elves. She only knew this because her brother had described the world tp her on many occasions. During bedtime stories and in the pictures he would draw for her. He was half Light Elf, after all. A half breed just like her or so her father at times called them. Ilaria smiled as she looked at the world her brother had come from. He was right. It was the most beautiful place in the whole universe. That much was obvious.

However, a loud noise broke her gaze away from Alfheim. Ilaria turned and spotted a portal on the opposite side of the clearing. It stood by itself and something set it apart from all the other portals. There seemed to be some kind of pull between Ilaria and the portal as she entered a sort of trance, walking towards the portal. That noise…it had sounded so familiar. Ilaria finally reached the portal and was left astonished by what she saw.

The portal overlooked a paved area between two large looking buildings. An alley. Bins filled with waste littered the alley but Ilaria was more drawn in by the street that the alley overlooked. In the distance she could see people walking along the street, chattering amongst each other, completely oblivious to the portal overlooking them. Ilaria gasped as she saw the people. She knew exactly what species they were.

Humans.

To Ilaria's astonishment she realized that she was looking through the portal that led to Earth. Her home planet. That was the noise she recognized. It was the sound of a car honking. She remembered her mother driving them around the small, hidden away town they lived in. A car had stopped in front of them and her mother pressed her hand against the middle of the steering wheel in frustration. After all this time, she still remembered the sound of a honking car. Ilaria could now hear many cars honking as they drove across intersections in the distrance.

She laughed, completely bewildered at the fact that she was finally face to face with her home planet. This was Earth. The world she had thought of for many years. It had been so long since she had last seen it. So long since she had seen all the vibrant colors and light. Ilaria hadn't realized she had missed it this much until this very moment.

 _"_ _You have to make a choice, Princess, and fast. They're coming."_ One of the spirits told her. Ilaria was broken out of her thoughts as she nodded furiously. They were right. She didn't have much time now. She was going to have to make a choice. Which portal was she going to choose?

"I suppose I'll have to leave you now, Dreamy." Ilaria told Dreamstalker as the horse just silently watched her. She gave him a sad look and she wondered if he sensed that about her. Maybe he did. She could sense a deep sadness coming from within him as well.

"I know." She whispered to him as she rested her forehead against his head, softly stroking his face.

"I think I'll miss you the most." She told him. He stared back at her, looking somehow regretful.

"Take care of yourself, Dreamy." Ilaria whispered to him as she then gave him a chaste kiss on his head. He made a chortling sound before Ilaria finally parted from him, turning back to look at all the portals. She now needed to make her decision more than ever. There wasn't much time now. They were almost there.

However, the decision was easier than she thought. She already knew which portal she was going to pick. She knew it from the moment she heard the sound of a car honking. Ilaria was going to pick Earth. It was an obvious pick but she wanted to go back to where she came from. She wanted to find her mother and she just wanted to go back after all these years. Hopefully they'd accept her. Ilaria really hoped they would.

 _"_ _So what will it be, Princess?"_ Another spirit asked her. A soft smile came across the princess's face as she stood in front of the portal of her choosing. The only one she could've really picked.

"Home."


	3. Chapter Three

The moment Ilaria stepped through the portal and entered Earth, the portal to the Dream Dimension shut behind her. Dreamstalker and all the voices of the spirits disappeared in an instant as she instead looked back at a brick wall. The Dream Dimension was completely gone and Ilaria could not be more elated. A big grin came across her face as she stood there in the alley staring at a brick wall. It wasn't just a brick wall to Ilaria. It was more than that…it represented freedom. The brick wall indicated that she was closed off from the Dream Dimension and she could not be more happy.

Ilaria heard a lot of noise coming from the street as she slowly turned around to get her first full view of Earth. She wasn't disappointed either. From within the alley she could see numerous people bustling around the street. She kept herself hidden as she watched people walk by. Some people had a briefcase in hand as they headed off to work or so Ilaria assumed. She only knew what she could remember from her childhood. Her time on Earth had been short, after all. Ilaria noticed that other people just seemed to be walking, minding their own business with a couple shopping bags in hand. Some people were even talking into small looking devices.

How odd.

Ilaria then took the time to stare up at the sky in wonder. The hood of her cloak fell off as she craned her neck to see the familiar blue. She giggled in delight as she saw the perfect, fluffy white clouds.

Her mother and her used to lie outside in the grass and name all the different cloud shapes that they could. Ilaria remarked at how bright and colorful everything was on Earth. She even admired the dumpster in the alley because even the dumpster was colorful. Her eyes had to adjust to the brightness since she spent the majority of her life living in darkness. However, Ilaria was just happy to finally be back on Earth…to be home.

She soon decided that it was time for her to step out into the street where all the humans were. It perhaps wasn't the most logical of decisions since Ilaria had no idea what she was going to do. She knew she wanted to find her mother but she didn't know how she was going to find her. Ilaria didn't even know her mother's name nor did she know where they had lived. All she remembered was lots of green. A forest perhaps? She wasn't sure. Ilaria wasn't sure about anything right now. Well, except for the fact that she wanted to have a look around.

It didn't even register to Ilaria that the humans might've found her odd as she exited the alley and walked down the street alongside them. She continued to look around in awe as she admired everything she was seeing. It was clear to her that she was in some kind of city but Ilaria didn't know what city. Her and her mother hadn't lived in a city when Ilaria was growing up so she wouldn't know what city this was.

She casted a glance in the direction of the road and noticed numerous yellow colored cars. Taxis. That was what they were called. She remembered seeing them in every movie about New York when she was little. Maybe that's where she was. Maybe she was in New York City. The younger version of herself had always wanted to go to New York but her mother refused. She said it wasn't safe.

Other people walking down the street cast the strange looking girl odd looks. It wasn't completely odd to see someone walking down the street dressed in odd garments and not to mention lavender skin and dark purple hair. They just assumed that the girl was from the local Comic-Con.

However, it was the way she walked down the street. She'd stop every once and a while, staring in wonder as she looked up at the huge skyscrapers but then smiling once she saw a display in a store window. It was like everything she saw amazed her.

Ilaria looked at all people walking by, their faces glued to the small devices in their hands. She didn't understand how they could stare at a small tiny device when they stood in the most amazing world there ever was. Earth.

There was so much light and color that Ilaria felt entirely overwhelmed. The fear she had of her father somehow finding her didn't even cross her mind as she practically skipped down the street. She resembled something more of a child than the actual twenty something year old woman she looked to be.

"Hey, you!" Someone called out. Ilaria abruptly stopped in the middle of the street. She slowly turned towards the voice, a perplexed look on her face. A brunette haired human woman standing outside a large and nice looking building with a clipboard in hand. She stood there staring at Ilaria with an annoyed look on her face. Ilaria wondered if the woman was speaking to her.

"Me?" Ilaria asked quietly and the woman rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you. Who else would I be talking to?" She told Ilaria. The purple haired woman was confused as to why this human woman seemed to have taken an interest in her. Did she perhaps know who Ilaria was? Did this woman maybe even know Ilaria's mother?

"You know who I am?" Ilaria said softly and the woman just nodded.

"Yes, you were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. You're late." The woman told her.

"I apologize. I had a tough time choosing between portals." Ilaria said as she hurriedly explained her tardiness. "I wasn't sure whether or not to come here or Alfheim. Alfheim seemed really beautiful but Earth is my home, after all." The woman rolled her eyes once more.

"Save it for the contest, Raven." The woman said sarcastically but the sarcasm went over Ilaria's head. The princess had never completely experienced sarcasm before. Before Ilaria could respond, however, the woman looked back at the clipboard.

"Okay…Jasmine Gomez, is it?" The woman said as she read the name off the clipboard. Ilaria gave her a confused look.

"Who is this Jasmine Gomez? Does she know where my mother is?" Ilaria questioned and the woman sighed tiredly.

"God, you cosplayers are so in character. Let's get this show on the rude, Miss Roth." The woman said, her voice filled with sarcasm again as she then grabbed Ilaria by the wrist and practically dragged her inside the building. Ilaria could only submit because she believed that the woman might've known something about her mother. Why else would the woman approach her like that?

Ilaria looked around the inside of the building in awe. It was so nice looking and beautiful. Not to mention it smelled fresh and clean. Not at all reeking of death and decay like her father's palace. She squinted her eyes as she noticed a sign hanging above a desk where a woman was sitting behind.

Holiday Inn Express.

That was the name of this palace? _It's an incredibly beautiful name for a palace_ , Ilaria thought to herself. The name of her father's palace had been "The Den of Despair". A very fitting title but Ilaria didn't think it was as beautiful sounding as the Holiday Inn Express. No, this palace was a lot nicer than her father's disgusting palace. That was for sure.

"We usually don't allow late comers into the event but your costume looks really amazing so I don't see why not." The woman informed her. Costume? What costume was the woman talking about? Ilaria didn't know.

"Is this your palace?" Ilaria asked her. "Do you rule over this sector of Earth?" The woman just shook her head in amusement.

"Wow…you're really giving it you're all, lady." The brunette told Ilaria as she began to lead Ilaria to a room on the first floor. "So when we get into the room you're just going to stand in line with all the other Ravens. The judges will come by for the contest and they'll judge each and every one of you. Just give them your best Raven impression when they get to you."

"Raven? Is that not an Earth creature?" Ilaria said in confusion. She thought the name sounded familiar and she knew that a raven was some kind of creature that dwelled on Earth. Ilaria just couldn't recall what kind of creature it was.

"Very hilarious." The woman said, not sounding amused. She then opened the doors to the large dining room area of the hotel which had become a make-shift contest area for the local Comic-Con.

The woman led Ilaria into the room and she watched in shock as she saw all the people packed into the room. Ilaria saw dozens upon dozens of humans seated within the room overlooking a stage where human women stood in a line, dressed not so differently than Ilaria. Ilaria didn't really understand what was going on. The brunette woman hurriedly nudged Ilaria along as she began to lead her to the stage.

"What is this?" Ilaria questioned but the woman ignored her as she continued to drag Ilaria to the stage.

"Okay. We're here." The woman told Ilaria as they finally reached the steps leading up to the stage. "Go stand next to Maggie. She's the one with the fake bird on her shoulder."

"I do not understand. What sort of game are you playing?" Ilaria said in confusion and the woman just nudged her again.

"Hurry up. We don't have all day." The woman told her seriously before she reluctantly gave the confused looking woman an encouraging smile. "Good luck up there. I think you might have this in the bag. Your costume is awesome."

"Um…thank you." Ilaria said, sounding unsure as she began to walk up the stairs like the woman said. She didn't know what was going on but maybe this was all part of her finding her mother. Ilaria wouldn't know unless she tried.

She looked at all the women standing on the stage. They all wore different clothing yet their outfits looked quite similar to each other at the same time. There were a couple individuals who had purple hair like Ilaria's but some of them just have black or dark brunette hair. Ilaria was immensely confused by what she was seeing. She didn't know humans could have purple hair. Blonde and red maybe but not purple.

It was then that she spotted a woman with a bird on her shoulder like what the other woman said. Maybe the bird was the raven? Ilaria wasn't sure but a raven could've been a bird. It was entirely possible but she wasn't quite versed in all the creatures that dwelled on earth.

She knew she used to have a pet rabbit when she was a little girl which was one of the few animals she did know of. Her mother had been happy to give her a companion since she was so lonely then. Her father never bothered making sure she never felt lonely like her mother had. Probably because he didn't have the slightest care either way.

"Are you Maggie?" Ilaria asked as she went to stand next to the woman like everyone else was standing in line. She still wasn't sure what to do in this circumstance. The woman with the fake bird on her shoulder smiled and nodded.

"Yes. I'm guessing you're the late comer. Glad to see that they still let you in." Maggie told her happily. "What's your name?"

"I'm Ilaria." She told the woman.

"Cool name. I've never heard of that one before." Maggie replied. "Is it Italian or something?" Ilaria gave her a confused look.

"I don't know. My father gave it to me." She informed her and Maggie nodded.

"Still…it's way better than Maggie." Maggie said casually before she glanced over what she thought was Ilaria's costume. "Your costume looks badass by the way."

"What?" Ilaria questioned, not understanding a single thing the woman just said.

"Your costume…like your body paint for example. It looks so cool." Maggie told her as she admired the creativity that was put into the costume. "What brand do you use? Wait…never mind. It's probably hella expensive and way out of my budget."

"Body paint…" Ilaria trailed off, still not being able to comprehend anything Maggie was saying. The woman then curiously looked at the symbols seemingly etched into Ilaria's skin. The symbols looked almost curved into her skin. There was a couple symbols displayed on her face as well as her hands. The symbols looked like old runes or celtic symbols much to Maggie's fascination.

"What prosthetics did you use because that looks so realistic." Maggie mused before she then examined Ilaria's hair. "And your wig is amazing too."

"I'm not wearing a wig." Ilaria told her in confusion. "This is my real hair." Maggie's eyes widened in surprise.

"You mean you dyed your hair for this?" Maggie said in disbelief. "Wow…now that's what I call commitment. God, the color is so vivid. How did you get it that shade? It looks so gorgeous. You must've just dyed it yesterday or something."

"I wash it." Ilaria said slowly but it sounded more like a question. Maggie nodded.

"You must use a special shampoo for dyed hair then. I would too except I'm a college student and can't really afford the luxuries of fancy shampoo." Maggie said as she then looked at her own costume which she didn't think looked half as nice as Ilaria's. "As you can see from my costume." Ilaria shook her head furiously.

"No, I think your costume is very lovely. You must be an excellent seamstress." Ilaria told her truthfully and Maggie smiled.

"Thank you." Maggie told her before she glanced down the line at the other women dressed as Raven Roth. "You know you're probably going to win this thing, right?"

"Win what?" Ilaria asked her and Maggie raised an eyebrow.

"The contest of course." Maggie said as if it were obvious. Ilaria still didn't know what this contest was about. The other woman had talked about a contest too but she had no clue what it was about. Maybe it was a fight to the death kind of contest. Ilaria didn't know if she could win something like that. She knew she was stronger than a human and not to mention she had her powers but Ilaria didn't know anything about fighting.

"Right…the contest." Ilaria said as she pretended to know what the woman was talking about.

"I don't even mind if I lose. I'd much rather lose than watch Eleanor Mathers win the contest yet again." Maggie complained as she looked at a woman at the end of the line who was wearing a very well put together costume. Unlike Ilaria, her purple hair was actually a wig. Ilaria thought the woman was very beautiful despite the fact that she glaring daggers at Ilaria. "She wins every single year. It's so annoying."

"Why does she seem upset with me?" Ilaria said quietly and Maggie smirked.

"Probably because her costume looks like something she bought from Value Village compared to yours." Maggie told her, looking quite delighted to see the snobbish cosplayer looking jealous and angry.

"Value Village?" Ilaria questioned, sounding perplexed. "Is that where this Eleanor is from?"

"No…I was just joking around." Maggie said. The weird way Ilaria put the question together went right over her head. "Eleanor is probably way too rich to shop at Value Village. I heard she doesn't even make her own costumes. She just has someone make it for her."

Ilaria suddenly felt very nervous. Was it a bad thing not to make your own clothing because Ilaria was in no way talented like the seamstresses that lived in her father's palace. They were the ones who made this outfit. Not Ilaria. However, before Ilaria could say this, they were silenced by a loud voice echoing through the room.

"Alright, guys. Welcome to this year's Comic-Con. Who's ready for this?" A man loudly announced as he walked on stage and stood in front of them, holding a strange device in his hands. Ilaria wondered how he could make his voice so loud. Did he perhaps possess the same power as her father?

"Great. So today we have the annual Raven Roth Cosplay Contest." He said and all the people in the audience cheered loudly. "Yes, exciting…I know. You'll see here on the stage we have ten lovely ladies who all worked very hard on their outfits but only one will win the contest."

"The winner will receive a thousand dollar cash prize and an autographed drawing of Raven Roth herself both drawn and signed by Matteo Valdez, one of the many comicbook artists of Raven." The man continued to announce as the audience cheered even louder.

"Mr. Valdez will also be serving as a judge for the contest." A tanned skin man standing on the opposite end of the stage, among another man and a woman, raised his hand as he grinned and waved at the audience.

"Now that we've gone over all the terms, let's get this thing started!" The man said excitedly. "We'll start with Miss Marianna Felici in her Raven costume."

Ilaria then watched silently, still beyond confused by this very odd affair. A girl on the other end of the stage then stepped out of the line before she proceeded to walk up and down the entirety of the stage. The princess had no idea what was happening. What kind of contest was this? She honestly understood none of what the man was saying earlier. It was all gibberish to her.

"Next we have Brie Farrow. Look at her go, everyone." The man announced as the next girl did the same thing as the last one did before she eventually went back to stand in line. Ilaria was slowly starting to understand this. She supposed that every girl in line was supposed to do the same thing. Ilaria decided she would do the same. She didn't know what the repercussions would be if she didn't follow the man's orders.

"Here's Jasmine Gomez in her absolutely stunning and out of this world looking Raven Roth costume." He announced when it was her turn and Ilaria quickly did what the other girls did. She was too afraid and nervous not to. Maggie looked a bit confused since that wasn't the name Ilaria had told her. The princess walked up and down the stage, copying the other girls, as she tried to act like she knew what was going on. Ilaria was beyond confused at this point. Humans were odd creatures.

The rest of the women in line then took their turns walking up and down the stage as the man announced their names. Ilaria just stood there in silence as she patiently waited for the next instructions. Maybe if she did this then the humans could tell her where her mother was. Ilaria was sure if she described her mother to them then they'd be able to find her. She knew there was no other human on Earth that looked as beautiful as her mother. Her mother was a unique individual from what she could remember.

"Now that the catwalk portion of the contest is over, our judges will come by and inspect the constumes. Please remain silent." The announcer told the audience and that was when the real odd stuff started happening. Ilaria watched in fascination as the man, the announcer mentioned before, started looking over every costume and making observations about it. There was another man and woman with him who did the same thing. Ilaria held her breath when he finally got to her. His eyes widened in wonder as he looked over Ilaria's costume.

"Amazing." He murmured as he looked her up and down. "It's quite different than how Raven usually looks but at the same time it's so her. You've managed to do your own take on Raven Roth. So creative."

"Um…thank you?" Ilaria said, sounding very unsure. He just smiled at her as the other judges nodded their heads in agreement.

"You're very welcome. The body paint, the hair, the dress, and even the cloak. It's all so stunning." The man then glanced down at Ilaria's bare feet. "You've even chosen not to wear shoes. A very creative decision."

Ilaria didn't know what he meant by that. In the Dream Dimension no one wore shoes. She remembered on Earth that her mother had always made her wear shoes but she always thought they were a more human invention since shoes didn't really exist in the Dream Dimension. There was no need for them there. The man then smiled encouragingly at her.

"Now…tell me a bit about yourself, Raven. Let me see your inner Raven Roth." The man said as he tried to get a Raven Roth impression out of her. Ilaria didn't know why people kept referring to her and the other women as Raven. It was all so confusing but she hoped that maybe this was her chance to get the man to help her find her mother. He seemed nice. Maybe he would know what to do.

"Well, kind sir, I'm from a world very different than this beautiful world you call Earth." Ilaria quickly explained, wanting to get to the main concern she had. "I hail from another dimension where my father, a demonic entity, rules and leaves nothing but pain and suffering in his wake."

"I only managed to escape his wrath by the mercy of a very loyal and kind creature named Vareen as well as my father's mount Dreamstalker and the spirits who haunt the Forest of Dreamscapes." Ilaria stated seriously as the man and everyone else listened intently. "I chose Earth because it's the planet I lived on as a child before my father cruelly stole me away from my mother. It is my mother who I now seek."

Ilaria didn't know how she expected the man to respond to her story. Maybe she thought he would ask her about her mother and how he could help. Or maybe she thought he could point her in the direction of someone who would be more equipped to help her. However, she was surprised when the man just grinned at her and started clapping along with the other two people who stood beside them. The hopeful look fell off Ilaria's face at once.

"You're brilliant, Miss Gomez." Matteo told her as the other judges collectively nodded. Ilaria frowned.

How rude.

The man then gave her one last smile before he moved away from her and on to Maggie. Ilaria couldn't believe it. No one was going to help her. She didn't know what was wrong with these humans. She understood nothing of what was going on. Ilaria could see that the humans were impossible to understand. She thought that since she was half human she'd be able to understand them better but she was as lost as ever. Being half human did her no good whatsoever.

Humans were so confusing.

* * *

"Now it's time to announce the winner of the annual Raven Roth Cosplay Contest." The announcer said excitedly into the microphone as he grinned down at the audience with Matteo standing right next to him.

All the other girls in line waited patiently while Ilaria just stood there in silence, wondering what she was going to do. Would the humans let her leave whatever this was? Would they allow that? Ilaria didn't know if this was some weird prison or not. She had never been imprisoned before. Well, she had been imprisonened by her father but he never kept her locked in a cage like the people he kept in the dungeons. He told her that she was lucky he didn't do to her what he did with all the creatures who crossed him.

"And the winner is…" The announcer trailed off before Matteo took the mic from him and grinned at the audience.

"Jasmine Gomez!" He shouted excitedly as the audience cheered loudly. All the rest of the girls in line politely clapped and some of them even looked excited except for Eleanor Mathers. Ilaria didn't respond at first since Jasmine wasn't her name. It wasn't until Maggie nudged her that she snapped out of her thoughts.

"I think that's you." Maggie told her and Ilaria looked around in confusion. She still didn't get what was going on. Everyone was smiling at her and she had no idea why. The announcer and Matteo gestured for Ilaria to step forward. The princess then hesitantly did what they wanted, fearing what would be done to her if she didn't. She slowly made her way to the announcer and the other man.

"Congratulations, Jasmine. You just won the Raven Roth Cosplay Contest." The announcer said to her. "How does it feel?" He then practically shoved the mic in Ilaria's face. She gave both men a wary look.

"I feel very confused." She said honestly and the announcer just chuckled.

"There's nothing to be confused about, Jasmine." The announcer told her. "As first place winner you get a thousand dollar cash prize and an autographed drawing by Matteo."

"Thank you." She said slowly, still in a dazed state as she tried to figure out what this was.

"What are you going to do with that thousand dollar cash prize?" He asked Ilaria and the purple haired woman was stumped.

"I'm not sure." Ilaria stated.

She wasn't really sure what he was talking about. Ilaria thought that he might've been talking about a form of currency. She knew a lot of worlds had currency unlike the Dream Dimension where nothing like it existed. What would people need to pay for on a desolate wasteland like the Dream Dimension? Most of everyone didn't even require actual food to eat. The guards were scavengers who feasted upon dead animals and even dead people. Everyone else ate the food her father conjured for them which was really just the most rotten and detestable food. Her father didn't care how it tasted. It's not like he had to eat or anything. Ilaria knew she wouldn't miss the feasts her father conjured up in the least.

"I guess I'm a bit hungry. Perhaps I'll buy some food." Ilaria finally answered much to everyone's amusement. "Where is a place that has food?"

"Well, you can have as much food as you want." The announcer told her. "I personally like Sonics Drive-In. They really have the best slushies and milkshakes around."

"Then I shall feast at Sonics Drive-In. I'm sure their food is quite delectable." Ilaria said happily and the man just chuckled.

"You have fun there then. Get the Nutter Butter Banana Milkshake. It's the best…I swear on my mother's life." The announcer said and Ilaria gasped.

"Your mother's life? I shall have this milkshake then so that no harm comes to your mother." She promised and the announcer gave her an odd look before he laughed nervously.

"Thank you." He said slowly before looking back at the audience. He was really starting to think that this woman was a little out there. She clearly wasn't acting Raven Roth anymore so he wondered what character she was trying be right now. He wasn't so sure.

He just wondered what her deal was.

* * *

Outside the large hotel dining room was a woman dressed in a poorly put together Raven Roth costume. Her costume hadn't come together quite the way it was supposed to but she had been looking forward to attending the Comic-Con anyways and entering the contest as well. She just happened to miss her bus and had arrived way later than expected. The woman was in tears as she tried opening the doors to the room where the contest was being held but it was too late. The doors were locked.

"It isn't fair, Joey!" Jasmine Gomez cried into her phone as she leaned against the locked door. "I missed the bus and now I missed the contest too. Why does this always happen to me?"

"It's not just a contest to me!" She screamed angrily at her boyfriend on the phone. "I worked for months on this costume and it was all for nothing."

"No, I will not calm down!" Jasmine argued, not believing the nerve of her boyfriend. "God, you're such an asshole sometimes!"

The real Jasmine Gomez then walked away from the door before turning her back to it for more privacy in her argument with her boyfriend. She was so preoccupied with her boyfriend that she didn't even notice two women walking out of the door. One who was dressed as Raven Roth and the other who was dressed as herself. The two women chatted happily amongst each other as the winner of the contest, the one who was only dressed as herself, lugged bags of merchandise from the Comic-Con. Jasmine never noticed the woman as she continued to yell at her boyfriend.

The real Jasmine Gomez and the fake one narrowly missing each other.

* * *

 ** **Author's Note: Okay I just want to say that I've never actually been to a real Comic-Con even though I want to so if that's not the exact way a Comic-Con is done then forgive me. Forgive me for the Cosplay scene as well if it was wrong because I've never done that in real life either. I just kind of wanted to make this chapter funny and this was the best idea I had for it.****

 ** **I also know that I promised the Avengers would be in this chapter and I thought they would but the chapter took a more interesting turn I wanted to explore but they will definitely be in the next chapter.****

 ** **I just want to say that Matteo Valdez is not an actual artist for DC comics. I just made him up because I couldn't find out anything about the real artists.****

 ** **nathan19bane: Thank you! I've never written a character like this one so it's pretty exciting for me. It's going to be even more exciting when she finally meets the Avengers and Doctor Strange since they've never really met anyone like her before. Their interactions are going to be interesting.****

 ** **Athena05: I'm not sure if can call myself a real fan since I haven't read a lot of the Marvel comics. Just mostly graphic novels I've checked out from libraries. I'm not really even sure where I would start in reading the comics. I have no clue but I do really love doing a lot of research for these stories since I love the MCU. I discovered Nightmare a long time ago and I thought he sounded like a really cool and unique villain so I decided to put him in here.****

 ** **I think I mentioned this before but this story is going to be an alternate universe fanfic which takes place after Age of Ultron and the first Doctor Strange movie. It's not going to follow any of the other movies like Ragnarok, or Infinity War so I can pretty much do what I want with it which is exciting. It's different from my other Marvel fanfic where I do use the storylines every now and then. This one will just kind of stand on it's own.****

 ** **Harry Potter and the Tardis: Slow burns are super hard to write. I know what you mean but in my experience they're worth it. I just like to develop the character a bit and also building up relationships between characters so it doesn't feel thrown together. It's really hard and you have to be patient but I think it's worth it in the end. My other story it took the characters like fifty chapters before they got together and they were long ass chapters but I'm glad I held out in the end. However, this story isn't going to be as slow burn as that one. It's probably not going to take fifty chapters.****

 ** **Thanks to musicluver246 as well for their review.****

 ** **Thank you and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you think.****


	4. Chapter Four: Part I

**Author's Note. So here's Part I of Chapter Four. I decided to split this chapter into two parts because it got really long and I felt like it would make more sense this way. So the Avengers will be in Chapter Four but they'll just be in Part II which I'll try to have out in a couple days. Sorry for the short chapter by the way.  
**

 **I also lied before when I said this would not include any of the MCU storylines and not acknowledge CA: Civil War. This _will_ acknowledge Civil War which I decided after some more thinking and planning. It will also contain a tiny bit of the Thor: Ragnarok storyline and I think everyone will know what part that is. However, it's still not going to include Infinity War. **

**I'd like to let you guys know that I just published a Tony Stark/OC fanfic that I had lying around for the longest time. It's called 'One Word from You'. In case any of you are interested in a Tony fanfic. The OC in it is a normal human girl with no powers whatsoever. I thought I'd mention that since this one and my other MCU fanfic features OCs with super powers.**

 **Link: s/13047349/1/One-Word-from-You**

 **I've come to realize recently that I have another fanfic with a similar title to this one. 'Rose Garden Dreams' which is a Harry Potter fanfic and has nothing to do with this one. I'll probably change the title of that one since I was thinking of changing it anyways. I just need to figure out what to change it to.**

 **If any of you have any inquiries regarding 'Some Things Never Sleep' I left a reason why I haven't been updating it in the author's note of 'One Word from You' which explains why.**

 **Snapplecrackles: Last chapter was just what I imagined how someone from another Dimension would be like if they stepped into New York. She's going to be shocked and delighted by everything she sees. Ilaria and Thor could definitely be friends as well. They're both from other worlds and are completely confused by some of the things humans do. Ilaria's originally from Earth but she didn't grow up here. She was raised in another dimension so humans are still going to be an incredibly foreign concept to her. Although...Thor and Ilaria aren't going to meet quite yet because Thor's off planet right now in the story.**

 **You'll find out soon enough that it would be pretty pointless for Ilaria to hide her non-human features. She doesn't really know the meaning of the word discreet. I'm not going to give everything away though.**

 **CrumblingUniverses: I'm glad you love 'Some Things Never Sleep' and this one. I know STNS was an incredibly long slow-burn but I wasn't trying to drag it out or anything. Emma's a very complicated character with a lot of issues to work through so it took her a long time before she could become vulnerable like that. Not that Ilaria doesn't have her own issues but she's very different from Emma so she might be open to the idea of a relationship but the story's still going to be a slow burn. No story I'll write will ever be as much of a slow burn as STNS. I just published a Tony Stark/OC fanfic today that I suppose I might count as a slow burn(MAYBE) but in comparison to STNS it's not even going to be half as short of a slow burn as STNS. I just really like developing characters and I also don't believe in love at first sight. I think people can be attracted to each other at first sight but I just don't think love at first sight is a real thing.**

 **I actually discovered Nightmare a few years ago and used him as a villain in this other Avengers story I was writing but my writing was really bad back then so I deleted the story. I think I was fifteen when I wrote that. However, I've had this concept for this story around for almost two years after seeing Doctor Strange. Nightmare's a unique villain so I'm excited to show a couple more glimpses of him in the future. I also heard of him maybe being in the Doctor Strange sequel so I'm really excited to see that. I hope they use him because he's an awesome villain and I feel like they could explore all the different dimensions even more in the sequel than they did in the original with Nightmare as the villain.  
**

 **1\. I normally have maybe three or four chapters written before posting a story. Just enough for people to get a sense of the character before I introduce some of the other more centric characters. I don't really plan chapters that far ahead but I have a lot of different plot points planned so I kind of go from there. My chapters usually always end up longer than intended so I can't really have them planned like that.**

 **2\. A lot of the plot is planned. But not the whole plot. Like I don't have the story from start to finish planned out. I usually plan ahead a bit and once I get to a certain point, I plan a little more ahead. That's usually just how I work. I don't ever have anything planned completely. Maybe a certain scene I want to write in the future but the in between stuff is where I kind of figure things out as I go. I'm not sure if this makes any sense.**

 **3\. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by real life inspiration. I'm assuming you mean face claim? The face claim for this story is Madeline Brewer with heavy editing. I don't know. I'm not that great at making covers so I'm not sure if the editing worked out as well as I wanted. Madeline Brewer stars in _Handmaid's Tale_. **

**4\. I don't think Doctor Strange is going to act the same way around Ilaria as he does Christine. I'm not really sure how he acted towards Christine since we didn't see much of the romantic side of their relationship. We got the fact that he was a dick to her and then after going to Nepal and training at Kamar-Taj he became super regretful of the way he treated her and made amends. Stephen's a little different now than he was when he was still a surgeon. He was an asshole back then and really arrogant but from 'Infinity War' I think we can see that he's not really an asshole anymore. He's still arrogant and a little sarcastic but he's a lot more serious than he used to be. He matured a lot. That's the Stephen we'll see in this story. He'll kind of have to be the mature mentor to Ilaria in this story since Ilaria still has this childlike wonder about her. I'm not saying she's immature but she's very innocent and untainted from human society. I know her dad's really evil so she's seen a lot of terrible things in her own way but it's different than what humans experience at her age.**

 **Sorry for rambling but I wanted to explain a few things a little more.**

 **Thanks to WhiteRabbit1231, CrazyMich, ThatMysteriousSlime, and PurpleStan for also reviewing. Thanks for everyone for favoriting and following the story as well. Let me know what you think of the chapter.**

 **Sorry for the long author's note.**

* * *

"I thought you said your name was Ilaria." Maggie told her as they sat on one of the benches outside the Drive-In where they were waiting for their food to come. They had just left the Comic Con after Ilaria collected her cash prize backstage at the contest. The two seemed to be fast friends as it would turn out. Ilaria was just happy to have been able to make a friend in such a short amount of time. She had only been on Earth for a couple hours and she already made a friend. It was all so odd. The only friend she had before was Vareen.

In all honesty Ilaria was just surprised they let her go. _Humans were quite kind_ , she observed. No other race she knew of would give her a lot of money as well as gifts as they welcomed her into their world. Humans were very generous. They had given her bags filled with cute little dolls as well as t-shirts that humans seemed to like wearing. Not to mention she had received the very beautiful picture that Matteo had given to her. He was quite a talented artist.

"My name _is_ Ilaria." She told her and Maggie gave her a confused look.

"Then why would they call you Jasmine?" Maggie asked her and Ilaria shrugged.

"I don't know." She said honestly because she really did have no clue.

"You could've told them your real name. They probably just had a typo or something in the list." Maggie said as a troubled look then came across her face. "It's too bad that your certificate doesn't have your real name on it." Ilaria didn't know what a certificate was so she just nodded.

"Here's your order, ladies." One of the workers at the Drive-In said as she brought them their food. Ilaria's eyes lit up with excitement at the sight and smell of the food. It had been so long since she had eaten. She didn't remember the last time she ate anything. She inhaled the smell of the hot food and she could feel her stomach growl at the scent. It smelled so good unlike all the rotten food back in the Dream Dimension.

"Thank you." Ilaria said politely as she stared at all the food in wonder. Maggie's tray of food just consisted of a burger and fries long with a slushie but Ilaria's tray was filled to the brim. There was a burger and fries but there was also a double bacon cheeseburger, tater tots, foot long cheese coney dog, popcorn chicken, corn dog, and even a soft pretzel. Not to mention the Banana Milkshake the announcer recommended to her. Maggie stared at Ilaria's tray in bewilderment.

"You're welcome." The woman said as she smiled brightly at them. The server didn't seem to find it odd that the two women were dressed in Cosplay. It was a well known fact that the local Comic-Con was in town for the weekend so there was lots of people running around in odd outfits. "You have a good day."

"I hope you have a wonderful day too, kind server!" Ilaria called after the woman as the server walked away. Maggie just shook her head. She was beginning to think this girl was a little odd.

"Are you sure you can eat all that?" Maggie asked Ilaria doubtfully. "No offense but you're almost Ariana Grande tiny." Not that Ilaria was super short like the famous pop star or anything but she was just really slender and didn't look like she could eat that much food.

"Don't worry. I won't waste any food." Ilaria said confidently as she began to dig in. "Who is this Ariana Grande? Does she reign over this sector?"

"Reign?" Maggie questioned before shrugging. "I mean…I guess. She's Ariana Grande, after all. For a tiny girl she's really got a pair of lungs on her."

"I would really like to meet her." Ilaria said and Maggie smirked at her.

"Don't we all." She replied before she took a small bite from her burger, only looking away from Ilaria for a moment before she looked back and noticed that Ilaria was really putting her burger away. The girl was already half way done with her burger as she moaned loudly at the taste of it. Maggie blushed as she carefully looked around, trying to see if anyone heard Ilaria. The sound she just made was slightly pornographic.

"This is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted in all of my existence!" Ilaria proclaimed as she stuffed her face with the burger. Maggie just stared back at her silently.

"The bar must've been set pretty low. Five Guys has way better burgers." Maggie told her and a confused look came over Ilaria's face.

"Which of the five guys has the best burger of all?" She asked her and Maggie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"What?" She questioned but Ilaria was already finished with her burger and had moved on to her coney dog. Maggie gave the girl an odd look. Yeah, there was something definitely off about this girl. When she talked to her at the Comic-Con before Maggie just thought it was Ilaria remaining in character but this was getting weird. They weren't at Comic-Con anymore so it was kind of weird that Ilaria was still talking like that.

"Hey, where did you say you were from anyways?" Maggie asked her.

"Here." Ilaria said around a mouth full of food, thinking that Maggie was asking what world she was from.

"New York then." Maggie said as she nodded to herself but Ilaria was too busy with her food to answer. "Well, I'm from Florida originally. Fort Lauderdale. It's a lot warmer than here but New York's still pretty nice. I can't complain."

"It must be nice there." Ilaria said despite not really knowing what Maggie was talking about.

"It is." Maggie said honestly. "But New York's still really awesome. I mean, it's huge and all but everything's right here."

"Like what?" Ilaria questioned as she took a sip of her milkshake. "What's right here?"

"Well, everything. Musicals, food, shopping, people, tourist attractions…The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon." Maggie told her before giving the girl an odd look. "Shouldn't you know that? You know, with being from around here and all."

"Of course I know that." Ilaria quickly said, not wanting to seem stupid to the human. It had been so long since she had been to Earth that she was quickly realizing that maybe she didn't know much about it at all. New York wasn't the place her mother and her lived. She knew that. New York seemed to be another planet all together.

"I actually just saw a musical the other night… _Hamilton_. My boyfriend got us tickets somehow." Maggie said as she rambled on about the musical she had gone to see. Ilaria listened to her curiously. She knew what musicals were. Her mother had watching them although her mother preferred the old ones with the beautiful dresses and stunning choreography. Ilaria wasn't sure but she thought she remembered watching a musical about the rain or something like that.

"What it a good musical?" She asked her and Maggie smiled before nodding.

"The best." She told her and Ilaria smiled back at her. She was really starting to like her home world. Everyone was so welcoming and not to mention the world was so beautiful. There seemed to be so many things to do here as well as many adventures to be had. Earth was truly unique. There was nothing like it.

"Maybe I'll go see it someday."

* * *

"Peter, what did you do?!" Ned Leeds complained to his best friend as they stood outside, staring up at a tree. Peter Parker was standing on the street with a guilty expression on his face as he held a remote controller in his hands. The two teenage boys were outside for a change as they flew the drone Ned got for his fourteenth birthday.

"I'm sorry, Ned. I didn't mean to!" Peter quickly apologized.

"Peter, I literally just got this drone yesterday and now it's stuck in a tree. How are we supposed to get it down from there?" Ned complained loudly.

"I just wanted to see how high up it could go." Peter said quietly as they continued to stare at the tree the drone was sticking out of. The two boys, however, didn't notice the two women who were walking on the street, chatting about numerous things as they went along their way.

Maggie was just telling Ilaria all about her boyfriend when Ilaria spotted two young boys who appeared to be in distress. She recognized that they were older than how old Ilaria had been when she was taken from Earth but they were still too young to be considered fully grown. They were in that in between stage but Ilaria thought that all children were beautiful. She squealed in excitement earlier when she saw the cutest baby ever. Maggie had given her an odd look but Ilaria didn't care. Children were miracles.

"Look, Maggie! More children!" Ilaria said excitedly as she beamed at the two boys. "This place is filled with children. How nice." Maggie gave her friend another odd look.

"Right…" Maggie trailed off awkwardly. She personally didn't care much for children. Maybe Ilaria was a kindergarten teacher in real life. She seemed like she might've been. Ilaria had that upbeat and cheerful vibe that most kindergarten teachers had. Maggie didn't think she had met a person that was more happy to be…alive. Yes, that was the word for it. Ilaria seemed so happy just to be here.

"Hello." Ilaria said as she approached the two troubled looking boys. Peter and Ned both looked away from the tree, noticing the lavender skinned woman for the first time. They both stared in surprise at first until they remembered the fact there was a Comic-Con in town for the weekend.

"Uh…hi." Peter said awkwardly as he stared at the woman and the woman's friend who was standing a distance away from them. The woman smiled at him like she was happy to see him. Peter wondered why. Did he know her? Peter didn't think so although he couldn't be sure who she was under all that body paint. She had a really cool costume though.

"I'm Ilaria." She introduced happily as she smiled at the two boys. "And what might your names be, children?" Peter didn't know if he liked being called a child. He was fourteen, after all. He was hardly a child.

"I'm Peter." He introduced.

"Ned." Ned also introduced as he continued to stare at the pretty woman covered in lavender colored body paint. "Hey, you're from the Comic-Con, right?"

"I suppose." Ilaria said, briefly recognizing the term. It was the place she had been to earlier when the humans welcomed her into their world and bestowed a bunch of gifts upon her. Ilaria thought she quite liked Comic-Con.

"We wanted to go but the tickets were really expensive." Ned said sadly and Ilaria just nodded. She didn't know what he meant by that. Ilaria hadn't needed a ticket to get in. The kind brunette woman had just found her on the street and dragged her inside.

"I see." Ilaria said quietly, not knowing what else to say to that.

"Ilaria." Maggie said as she gave her a pointed look but Ilaria didn't know why she said her name like that. "We need to go."

"Why?" Ilaria said in confusion and Maggie just stared at her in disbelief. She didn't know what was wrong with that woman. It's like the woman didn't have enough common sense to know that it didn't look good for a grown woman to randomly approach a couple of underage boys on the street. However, Ilaria just decided to ignore her friend as she turned back to look at the children.

"What's wrong, children? Why do you seem so troubled?" Ilaria asked them and both boys exchanged odd looks with each other. There was something odd about the way she worded her sentences.

"Well, Peter and I were flying the drone I got for my birthday but he managed to get it stuck up in that tree." Ned told her as he pointed up at the tree in question and Peter just blushed. Ilaria looked to where the boy was pointing and noticed that a strange device was, in fact, stuck at the very top of the tree.

"You've lost your toy?" Ilaria asked and both boys flushed red with embarrassment.

"It's not a toy." Peter said defensively. "We're fourteen. We don't play with toys." Ilaria just ignored them as a self assured look came over her face.

"Here, hold this." Ilaria told Maggie as she handed her new friend her now melted milkshake as well as the bags full of merchandise she got from the Comic-Con. Maggie just gave her a strange look.

"What are you doing?" Maggie questioned and Ilaria once again ignored her as she looked back at the two boys.

"Do not fear, children. I will retrieve your toy at once." Ilaria told them confidently.

Peter was about to remind her that they weren't children when she did something that surprised everyone standing there. Ilaria, with as much ease as possible, began to float off the ground before quickly rising through the air. Peter's eyes widened in surprise while Ned's jaw hung open in shock. The lavender skinned woman easily flew up through the air until she reached the very top of the tree. Ilaria smiled as she picked the drone out of the tree and held it in front of her.

"Look, children! I retrieved your toy!" Ilaria called down to them. Peter and Ned could only manage to nod very slowly as they tried to comprehend what they were seeing. Peter thought his eyes might've been playing tricks on him. His glasses were a bit broken since that time Flash stomped on them on the bleachers. Maybe they were more broken than he thought.

"Oh my god." Maggie said, completely stunned by what she was seeing. This couldn't be happening. The woman she met at Comic-Con was actually flying. Maggie was familiar with a lot of tricks Cosplayers had up their sleeves but none of them could manage to fly through the air like that. Not unless they were…well, not unless they belonged to a group like the Avengers or something.

"I told you I would retrieve it." Ilaria said as she then gently flew back down to the two teenage boys and Maggie on the ground. She landed gracefully and walked towards them as if nothing had happened…as if it were perfectly normal for someone to randomly be able to fly like that. Ilaria gave them a bright smile as she handed the toy back to the boy named Ned.

"H-How did you d-do that?" Peter stammered as he looked at the woman in amazement. Ilaria cocked her head to the side like she didn't understand.

"Do what?" She questioned.

"F-Fly." Ned said breathlessly. Ilaria's eyes widened in realization.

"Yes…I almost forgot. Flying is not a skill humans seem to have." Ilaria said observantly and Peter raised an eyebrow.

"Humans?" He questioned. Why did she say that like she wasn't a human herself? Peter was so overwhelmed by everything this woman was saying or doing.

"Are you an Avenger?" Ned questioned and Ilaria gave him a confused look.

"An Avenger? What's that?" Ilaria asked but before the boys could ask any other questions, Maggie stepped in from there.

"Let's go, Ilaria. We've got that thing we have to go to. Remember?" Maggie said as she laughed nervously.

"What thing?" Ilaria questioned and Maggie gave her a very stern look as she then grabbed Ilaria around the wrist to get her out of there really fast. Something was going on here and she didn't think it was very wise to involve two teenage boys.

"The thing? Let's go. Now." Maggie said urgently as she began to drag her away from Peter and Ned. Ilaria just assumed it was better to follow her new friend then to stay put so she submitted and let the woman pull her away.

"Bye, Children!" Ilaria said happily as she waved at them. Peter and Ned, still stunned, slowly waved back.

"Thanks, Flying Lady!" Peter called back to her. The woman was then dragged away by her friend as Peter and Ned were left in shock at what they just witnessed. Ned then slowly turned to look at his friend.

"Peter, did we just meet an Avenger?" Ned asked quietly. Peter swallowed hard.

"I think we did, Ned." Peter said softly as he stared at the woman and her friend. Ned grinned at him excitedly.

"Awesome!"


	5. Chapter Four: Part II

**Author's Note: Sorry that it's taken me a while to update this story. I was busy updating my other stories but here's a long chapter to make up for it.**

 **warlocktoungue: I never really considered Diana and Ilaria to be somewhat similar in their reactions to society but I get your point. In my mind, at least, I think Ilaria's a bit similar to Giselle in Enchanted. They both have this very innocent and naive take on the world. You'll see more of Maggie's reaction in this chapter.**

 **Thanks to ThatMysteriousSlime, Purplestan, and nameword for reviewing as well. I really appreciate it. Thanks to all the follows and favorites too. I hope you enjoy Chapter Four: Part II and let me know what you think.**

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Maggie dragged Ilaria into an alley so they could talk in private. It kind of even reminded Ilaria of the alley she stepped into after she exited the portal. Well, she supposed that every alley must've looked quite similar to each other. Maggie finally let go of her, her harsh grip loosening. A normal person might've been angry or annoyed at the way Maggie had roughly grabbed them but not Ilaria. The purple haired woman just smoothed out the wrinkles of her cloak.

"What the hell was that?!" Maggie exclaimed as she stared back at Ilaria.

"What was what?" Ilaria asked nonchalantly and Maggie just shook her head in disbelief.

"You just flew up into the air like Superman? How can you be so calm about this?" Maggie asked her and Ilaria still didn't understand why her new friend seemed so freaked out.

"But I've always been able to fly. It's not a new ability I've acquired. Ever since I was a child I could fly." Ilaria told her calmly and Maggie just scoffed.

"What? So you're just an Avenger who goes to Comic-Con or something?" Maggie questioned. "If you're an Avenger then how come no one's ever heard of you? I don't remember seeing you during all the footage of the thing in Sokovia."

"I'm not an Avenger? Why does everyone keep saying that? What's an Avenger?" Ilaria questioned in confusion because everything Maggie was telling her sounded like gibberish to Ilaria's ears. Maggie just stared at her in more disbelief.

"Have you been living under a rock or something for the past three years?" Maggie questioned sarcastically. "The Avengers are only a group of crazy powerful superheroes. They saved New York from an alien invasion and not to mention they stopped Tony Stark's crazy robot from destroying the whole planet. They've done loads of other stuff too."

"Tony Stark?" Ilaria questioned, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. That name…she had heard it before. She knew she had.

"Yeah. Tony Stark AKA Iron Man. He's super rich and a technological genius." Maggie explained. Ilaria thought hard. She knew she had heard that name but where? Ilaria searched her brain for clues and thought she was about to come up empty until a memory came to her.

" _Father, why must you always torment these creatures like this? What have they done to deserve it?" Ilaria asked her father as they stood in the dungeons of her father's palace. They weren't near the prisoners but she could still hear their tortured screams which proved to her that they weren't far either. The two were overlooking her father's pool of nightmares. It was the sacred and mystical pool of water fueled by a very dark and ancient sort of magic._

 _Ilaria looked on in fear and disgust as she observed the murky dark water. She could hear crying and sounds of despair as she saw shadows underneath the surface of the water. Ilaria was an empath which also meant she could feel their fear. All the emotions put together was overwhelming for the young princess. She thought she might break down in tears herself. Ilaria only broke out of her thoughts when her father rested his hand upon her shoulder._

" _When will you understand, daughter." Nightmare said in a dark tone, his red eyes narrowing into a glare. "These creature's lives are nothing in comparison to ours. Especially the humans. Their lives are worth less than a chamber pot."_

" _I still don't understand, Father." Ilaria said as she sought to try to understand her father's actions. "What is the point of all this? Is it just all fun and games to you? Why is it necessary?"_

" _Do not question me, you insolent child!" Nightmare yelled, his eyes gleaming with anger. Ilaria shrunk back in fear and it only took a moment for Nightmare to calm down from his rage. He forced the anger away as he then plastered a fake smile on his face._

" _I apologize, dear sweet Ilaria. My anger got away from me." Nightmare said as he tried to make her feel better but Ilaria knew better than that. She knew what evil lurked in her father's heart. He was only pretending to be sorry because he wanted to teach her how to be like him. How to torment and kill._

" _That's alright, Father." Ilaria said quietly and he just nodded before continuing their conversation._

" _You see everything here in this dimension? This palace and all the creatures who live in it?" Nightmare inquired and Ilaria nodded. "Well, that's because it's all brought together by this."_

" _The Pool of Nightmares?" Ilaria asked and he nodded._

" _Which I named affectionately after myself, of course." Nightmare said jokingly before continuing. "This dimension is part of the darker side of the multiverse. It's very existence can only be fueled by darkness in itself. Death, suffering…fear. All of those things allow for our very existence."_

" _Are you saying that we cannot survive without those things?" Ilaria said slowly and she wasn't stupid like her father thought she was. For many years she had been searching for a weakness her father possessed. Anything that could allow for her to somehow defeat him and escape. She covertly searched her father's emotions for a sign to indicate that she was right. That he did have a weakness. She thought she had found what she was looking when she felt hesitance and a small amount of fear of his own but the emotions were gone in an instant and the sinister aura, she always felt when she was around him, returned._

" _Do not worry, daughter." Nightmare told her as his lips curled into a spine tingling smirk. "As long as there is fear in the multi-verse I will always protect you."_

 _She could tell that he intended for the remark to go over her head but it didn't. He always seemed to underestimate her that way. But Ilaria knew what she needed to know. Her father could not survive without fear. Fear is what fueled his existence and without it, he would cease to exist. He was still right though. There would always be fear in the universe. Yes, she knew of her father's weakness but there was still no way of using that weakness against him. Fear would never cease to exist in the universe._

" _Thank you, Father." Ilaria said respectfully even though she didn't mean it._

" _There is no need to thank me. You are a child of Nightmare, therefore you will always be protected." Nightmare told her but his promise didn't make Ilaria feel any better. To her it was just a promise that she would never be allowed to escape his clutches. She would spend eternity with her father. Whether she liked it or not._

" _Let me show you how it works. How I am able to power this dimension." Nightmare told her as he then waded into the pool of murky water. Purple water. He looked back at her with a smile on his face, holding his hand out to her. "Join me, Daughter."_

" _Are you sure?" Ilaria said hesitantly, feeling fear spike her heart. The thought of entering those waters with him terrified her right to the very core. He just gave her an amused look._

" _Do not worry. I will keep you safe." Nightmare promised but Ilaria was worried. She was worried because there was no part of her that would ever trust her father. He was evil. There was no goodness in his heart. Just darkness. He was perhaps the most evil creature in all of existence._

" _I know, Father." Ilaria whispered softly as she began to follow him into the pool. She did this because she knew she had no choice._

 _If she defied him he would only grow angry and he would trap her in an unknown dimension he conjured up. He had done that once before when she was a child. Ilaria had been more defiant back then and had run away from him. He caught her before she even left the grounds of the palace. Her punishment was spending what felt like months on end in a dimension that was completely dark. It was filled with nothingness. No light, people, creatures, or anything. It was just Ilaria trapped in a dimension by herself surrounded by darkness. It was safe to say that Ilaria never even attempted to defy him again._

" _Good. This is why you're my favorite of all my children." Nightmare told her affectionately. "Your brother and sister always defied me and never learned their lesson. You, however, I can always count on to obey me. The perfect daughter."_

" _I'm humbled, Father." Ilaria told him loyally as she entered the water, trying her best not to show her disgust at how lukewarm the water seemed to be. It wasn't cold like she expected._

" _You're about to see what true power is." Nightmare told her as he grinned. "Hopefully I'll be able to teach you this someday…if you show enough potential."_

" _I'd be honored." Ilaria responded, trying to make herself look appreciative._

 _Her father just smirked as he looked down at the water they were standing in. He waved his hand over the water, his fingers long and fingernails even longer, and the reflection of themselves in the water changed to something else. An image appeared in the water. It was almost like one of the movies her mother used to watch on television except this wasn't a television. This was something else._

 _The first images she saw were of a terrifying monster living under a little girl's bed. It's eyes gleamed an even more horrid red than her father's eyes. It's sharp teeth dripped with saliva as it crawled out from underneath the girl's bed, revealing it to be even more terrifying out of the darkness. It was a terrifying looking beast covered head to toe with black fur and with enormous sharp claws as well. Massive looking horns were perched on the top of his head as he stood over the bed of the frightened child. The monster grinned down at the little girl._

" _Why are you so frightened, child?" Nightmare said as he looked into the image and the monster echoed Nightmare's words in a deep and more frightening voice. Ilaria knew what this was. It was all her father's doing. This is what Nightmare did. He haunted people's dreams, searching for their worst fears and then using it against them._

" _P-Please leave me alone." The girl begged. Tears flooded Ilaria's eyes as she watched the scared little girl._

" _Oh, don't worry. I'll leave you alone." Nightmare said, looking sinister as the monster repeated his words. "But only after I've feasted upon your flesh."_

" _No! Don't!" The girl continued to beg and Nightmare cackled while the monster did the same thing. The monster then began to close in on the little girl as she screamed in terror._

 _Ilaria felt a tear fall from her eyes at the poor girl's state of terror. She only looked away to see the look on her father's face. A look of pure delight and satisfaction crossed his face as he took a deep breath, absorbing the fear of the little girl as if he were smelling freshly made bread. The image then stopped and Ilaria could only assume it was because the little girl had woken up._

" _Why would you do that, Father? She's only a child." Ilaria said quietly and instead of her father berating her for questioning him, he only smiled at her. He gently wiped the tear off her face as if he was this gentle all the time. Ilaria struggled not to flinch in disgust from his touch._

" _You're right. She is just a child." Nightmare admitted. "She's not nearly enough to summon even the parlor tricks those simple minded human sorcerer's have up their sleeves. No, I need something stronger." Ilaria just shook her head as he pulled away from her. That wasn't what she meant at all._

" _I meant that she didn't deserve it. She's innocent." Ilaria told him and he raised an eyebrow in amusement._

" _Innocent? You're troubled because of the torment I inflicted on an innocent child?" Nightmare questioned as he smirked at her. Ilaria swallowed hard because she knew that smirk. The smirk that told her that he was up to no good. "Very well then. We shall find a not so innocent creature then. Someone who's caused a lot of death and destruction in their sad, pathetic lives. A human will do. Humans are quite barbaric, after all."_

" _Father, I-" Ilaria started to say but he interrupted her._

" _Who shall it be? A serial killer perhaps? An assassin? A dictator?" Nightmare said as he flipped through the dreams of various humans, trying to find someone who stood out against the rest. He then paused as he found something interesting. A wide smile spread across his face. "How about a war monger?"_

" _What?" Ilaria questioned in confusion. He gestured to the dreams in the Pool of Nightmares. All Ilaria could see was destruction. A city completely torn apart by a race of alien attackers. At the center of it all, a robotic looking man flew through the sky and up into a giant portal that led into a part of space which contained even more alien attackers. Ilaria watched, completely transfixed, as the figure flew himself and a large weapon in his arms into the portal. The perspective of the dream suddenly changed. It was only then that she was able to see that there was a man underneath the robotic figure._

 _A human._

 _A picture of a beautiful human woman with strawberry blonde hair was displayed in front of him as he flew through the portal before the picture faded away. Ilaria could feel all the emotions he was feeling as if he were right in the room with her. She could see the fear and regret written all over his face. He threw the weapon through the portal before he passed out in his robotic suit and fell back through the portal. Ilaria gasped._

" _Father! Stop! Can't you see he's in pain?" Ilaria said, trying to get her father to stop. Her father turned to her as he scoffed._

" _This man…this human…has led waste to his own planet. A man whose made weapons that have killed thousands upon thousands of people." Nightmare informed her as Ilaria looked back at the man in disbelief. "He profits off war. He has a nice large home and surrounds himself with expensive things while there's people dying out there because of him. He is not a good man."_

" _And you are?" Ilaria questioned and Nightmare just smirked at her._

" _I never claim to be good like this man does. He tries to redeem himself…to make up for his mistakes but he'll never bring all of them back. The people that died because of him." Nightmare said as a cruel smile came over his face. "That's his fear. He's scared of not doing enough. He's scared that he'll never be able to make up for it."_

" _If he's trying to redeem himself then he's not a bad person." Ilaria tried to tell her father but Nightmare just waved his hand dismissively as he looked back down at the image in the pool._

" _I do not care whether or not he's a good or bad person. I only wish to exploit his fear." Nightmare told her nonchalantly. "And his fear is strong."_

 _Before Ilaria could even respond, her father waved his hand over the image and it changed to a different scene. The scene was drastically differently from the last one. There was nothing but ruin in what looked to be a city. The sky was muggy and the sun was an orangish color from all the smoke and dust still lingering in the air. The one thing Ilaria noticed in particular was the fact that there was no one in the destroyed looking city. No one except for the man her father kept showing her. He was lying on top of a pile of rubble. The man suddenly woke up inside the nightmare as he gasped for breath._

" _What the hell?!" He said as he struggled to catch his breath. It was then that the man sat up from the pile of rubble as he gazed around the destroyed city in confusion. He wildly looked around, trying to understand what was happening but she could see he wasn't successful in the attempt._

" _Are you Tony Stark?" Nightmare asked but this time it wasn't a monster who was repeating his words or actions. No, it was a little girl. She was a cute thing with little blonde pigtails and a pretty dress. The only thing that took away from her cuteness was the fact that she was covered in the dust from the destroyed city._

" _W-Who are you?" The man named Tony asked, bewildered by the sight of a little girl in the midst of such a broken city._

" _I'm lost. I'm looking for my mommy and daddy." Nightmare said, fighting the urge to laugh, as the little girl in the dream mimicked him. The little girl was him in a way. So was the monster. Her father could take the form of anything he wanted. It was all too simple for him and he had been doing it for thousands and maybe even hundreds of thousands of years. The man just nodded to himself before getting up from the rubble and moving towards the little girl._

" _It's okay, kid." Tony told the girl comfortingly before he knelt down in front of her. "You're okay. I'll help you find your parents. Where are they?"_

" _We were having a picnic outside when it happened. Daddy said it was a good thing we never saw it coming." Nightmare continued to say, the little girl echoing his exact words._

" _When what happened?" He asked her softly. The little girl then showed her true colors as the scared and innocent look fell off her face and a darker look took its place. She then glared hatefully at the man._

" _When you killed my parents." Nightmare spat but there was something more chilling when it came from the voice of a little girl. Tony stumbled back in horror. "You murdered them! You're a murderer!"_

" _I-I-" Tony tried to say but the words just couldn't seem to come out._

" _And it wasn't enough, was it!?" Nightmare questioned. "You had to take my life too!" The little girl's smooth, unblemished skin then began to peel off. Blood oozed from the open wounds and the air was filled with the scent of burning flesh. Ilaria watched in horror with the man as the skin kept peeling off until all she could see was bone._

" _I'm sorry." The man cried as he tried shielding his eyes from the pure horror he was seeing. "Just stop! Stop!"_

" _Stop it!" Ilaria screamed, not being able to take anymore as she then shoved her father. He stumbled and lost his concentration. The man named Tony Stark disappeared into the waves. Ilaria stiffened when she realized what she had done. She was terrified that her father was about to send her to that dimension again but he didn't. He regained his footing and laughed at her, his laughter sounding crazy and exaggerated. Ilaria just stared at him in bewilderment. His laughter calmed down after a moment as he grinned at her, showcasing his fangs and sending chills down her spine._

 _Ilaria knew fully well that her father was insane. He was possibly the most deranged creature in the universe and she was terrified of him. What made him more scary than anything was the fact that she never knew what he was going to do. He was unpredictable. He proved this when his laughter finally stopped and his delighted look morphed into a furious one as he slapped her with his full strength, sending Ilaria flying back into the murky purple water._

 _She was only under the water for a second before she quickly rose back up to the surface. He was already stalking towards her with a furious look on his face. Ilaria tried backing away but there was nowhere to go. Nightmare grabbed her roughly by the lapels of her cloak._

" _You dare defy me?!" Nightmare hissed, his voice rising and Ilaria swallowed hard as she furiously shook her head._

" _Of course not, Father." Ilara was quick to say but he was unrelenting as he drew his face closer to hers. His eyes practically glowed red with anger and malice._

" _Then why did you do it?" He questioned angrily and Ilaria tried to muster the courage to explain herself before he sent her into the other dimension again._

" _He was suffering, Father! You couldn't feel the amount of pain he was in. I couldn't take it. I'm sorry." Ilaria said as her eyes glistened with tears. Nightmare stared at her with an expression void of all emotion. Ilaria didn't know what he was thinking as he looked at her coldly._

 _Most fathers, human ones at least, would melt at the sight of their daughter's tears. However, Nightmare wasn't like most fathers. He didn't treat his daughter like a daughter. He treated her more like a pet that he was sometimes fond of. Nightmare only liked her when she did what he wanted. He didn't like her when she defied him or embarrassed him. If she was good he would congratulate her and show his appreciation but when she was bad, in his mind, he would scold or punish her. Sometimes both._

" _Oh, my dear sweet Ilaria." Her father said in a sickly sweet tone as he then stroked her cheek gently, displaying his false kind demeanor. He acted like he hadn't just slapped and grabbed her roughly. "You're so human, aren't you? You feel bad for that man."_

" _He regrets what he did." Ilaria told him. "Father, I could sense it in him. He's not a bad person."_

" _I see so much of your brother in you." Nightmare told her as he ignored her words. Ilaria gave him a confused look._

" _What?" She questioned in question._

" _Your brother felt compassion for humans and all creatures alike just like you do. The ceremony couldn't even drive the light out of him." Nightmare said but it was clear that he didn't think any of this was a good thing._

" _Father, I really mean it. I know you don't like humans but not all of them are terrible." Ilaria tried to tell him but Nightmare just shook his head as he scoffed._

" _I'm going to tell you something that I should've told your brother long ago. Maybe if I had then he would've been a better son. Hopefully you can learn from his mistakes." Nightmare said as he glared at her. Ilaria had no choice but to listen as she tried to push the anger she felt over his words out of her head. Arguing with her father wasn't going to do her any good._

" _Humans are barbaric, ignorant, and primitive creatures." Nightmare told her, the hate he held for humans clearly displayed in his voice. "Why do you think your mother kept you hidden? Why she never let you play with other children or go out in public?"_

" _I-I don't know." Ilaria said hesitantly because she knew her father never mentioned her mother. She was confused as to why he would start talking about her now of all times._

" _It's because humans are afraid of what they don't understand. They would take one good look at you before sending you to some small room to be pulled apart and examined." Nightmare said to her. "You'd be nothing but a pin cushion to the humans. That man you keep saying is a good person? He wouldn't hesitate to do the same to you."_

" _No, he wouldn't!" Ilaria said, refusing to believe that. "Humans aren't like that. They're kind and fragile."_

" _How would you know?" Nightmare questioned. "You hardly met any of them."_

" _My mother-" Ilaria started to say but Nightmare stopped her._

" _Your mother?! You think because your mother was nice to you that all humans are the same?" Nightmare said as he laughed. "You're more naïve and foolish than I thought, Daughter."_

" _Humans would not hesitate to throw you in a cage while they pointed and laughed at how different you are to them. They're barbaric creatures, Ilaria." Nightmare said before his expression softened the slightest bit. "They would never understand your greatness."_

" _I don't believe they're as cruel as you make them out to be." Ilaria said quietly but Nightmare just shook his head._

" _Humans are the cruelest of creatures. Even more cruel than I am. They kill their own people over trivial things like land and money. They're greedy creatures." Nightmare said, trying to get his daughter to see humans the way he did._

" _Making them suffer like this isn't fair." Ilaria told him defiantly and Nightmare just smiled humorlessly._

" _Their lives are worthless, Ilaria. Their feelings should not hold any consequence to us." He retorted. "Do you know what they do to species they deem inferior to them? Tell me. If you're so in tuned with humans then tell me what they do."_

" _I don't know what you mean." Ilaria told him and Nightmare just smirked at her._

" _A simple spider or ant steps into their path and they don't hesitate in squashing them underneath their boot." Nightmare informed her much to Ilaria's disbelief. "Any species they deem inferior to them receives the same fate."_

" _An insect is to humans what humans are to us." Nightmare told her, hoping to get through to his daughter. "That's why they make such easy prey. Humans are the most scared and ignorant creatures in existence. They're terrified of everything."_

" _They don't deserve this." Ilaria said quietly but Nightmare just scoffed as he just shook his head._

" _Their fear is what fuels this dimension. What they do or don't deserve has no affect on me." Nightmare told her darkly. Ilaria just stared back at him._

" _I don't think I could ever do what you do to them. It's not in me." Ilaria said but Nightmare didn't look angry. He just smiled at her sadly._

" _But is in you, Ilaria." Nightmare told her, sounding confident in his knowledge. "You are my daughter…a child of Nightmare and like all children of Nightmare, there is a darkness within you. It's festering inside you, waiting for the day to come out."_

" _I don't believe you. There is no darkness in me." Ilaria told him, her eyes flooding with tears. Nightmare smirked at her._

" _It's deep within. It hasn't even scratched the surface yet but it will and then you'll be more powerful than ever." Nightmare told her. "On the day of your ceremony the darkness will finally come out. It's only a matter of time."_

 _Ilaria didn't say anything as she stared back at her father, fear clearly displayed in her eyes. Could he be right? Was there darkness inside her? Ilaria didn't know. She never felt darkness before but maybe her father was right about her. She was his daughter, after all. He was always telling her how she was destined to rule over one of his dimensions. Ilaria never believed him but it made a lot of sense. What else could she be destined for?_

 _The princess tried imagining herself like her father or even her sister. She tried picturing herself causing torment and suffering to humans just like they did. She tried imagining herself like her father, taking great pleasure in tormenting creatures through their dreams. The image deeply troubled her and she didn't know what to do with herself. Ilaria didn't want to be like her father and sister but maybe she didn't have a choice. The ceremony was growing closer and closer so there would only be a matter of time before this so called darkness would take over._

" _Don't worry, Daughter." Nightmare said softly as he grew closer to her before leaning down and placing a chaste kiss against her forehead. Ilaria just stood motionless against him. He then pulled away from her and smiled at her in a sinister fashion. Ilaria felt nothingness as he looked down at her._

" _I'm sure you'll make me proud."_

"Ilaria?" Maggie questioned, trying to get the spaced out woman's attention. Ilaria snapped out of the flashback as she looked back at her new friend.

"What?" Ilaria said, sounding a bit lost.

"I asked if you were living under a rock. You said you've never heard of the Avengers before." Maggie reminded her but that wasn't true. Ilaria might've never heard of the Avengers but she had heard of Tony Stark. He was the human her father used to torment. The human that was filled with more guilt and sadness than what Ilaria had felt in a long time. He must've been famous on Earth. That made sense to Ilaria. Even though she knew of him through his dreams he had always seemed like a human who carried a great deal of importance with him.

"I wasn't living under a rock. I was living in the Dream Dimension." Ilaria told her, trying to force the memory of her father away. She didn't want to think about him anymore. Maggie gave the girl a worried look. "I'm not sure exactly how long I was there but I was a child when I left and now I'm not so I imagine I've spent quite a long time away from Earth."

"The Dream Dimension?" Maggie questioned and Ilaria nodded.

"It's where my father's from. He's a demonic entity named Nightmare who uses his powers to torment and plague the sleeping." Ilaria answered and Maggie was starting to think she was dealing with a crazy lady with super powers which wasn't a great combination.

"Who even are you?" Maggie said in confusion and Ilaria was confused too.

"I already told you. My name is Ilaria." She repeated but Maggie shook her head.

"No, I mean what's your deal? You're just talking about demonic entities and dimensions. Are you from a…" Maggie trailed off before speaking in a more hushed voice, afraid she would somehow upset the woman. "Are you like from a mental clinic or something?"

"I told you where I'm from." Ilaria said and Maggie just sighed. This day kept getting weirder and weirder. It was just crazy to think this all began with a Comic-Con. Maggie sighed heavily, relieved she probably had an escaped mental patient on her hand. She was probably just lucky the girl hadn't murdered her already.

"Come on, let's get some coffee or something." Maggie said, wanting to lure Ilaria out of the alley so the girl wouldn't kill her with whatever super powers she had. On second thought, maybe the girl belonged to Hydra. She thought she remembered reading somewhere that Hydra did experiments on people. Maybe she was from Hydra and escaped. Either way, Maggie really needed to get this girl to a police station. Maybe they would know what to do with her.

"I don't want to go." Ilaria said stubbornly, knowing that her new friend wasn't listening to her. She might've been oblivious to human customs but she wasn't stupid. She knew Maggie was starting to act distrustful.

"Let's just go, okay? We can talk some more over coffee." Maggie said as she then grabbed Ilaria's wrist tightly but Ilaria pushed her away.

It was so odd. The amount of force Ilaria had used felt slight but somehow it was enough to send Maggie falling on her ass in the alley. Maggie groaned in pain as she hit the ground and Ilaria gasped in surprise. She hadn't meant to push the girl that hard. It seemed like she forgot just how delicate humans were.

Maggie winced as well because she realized that she had probably gotten Ilaria's body paint all over her herself in the midst of the struggle. Great…she knew her costume was kind of crappy but it was still something she worked hard on. How was she supposed to get the stains out now? The young woman glanced down at her outfit as well as her hands to see how bad the damage was but she was surprised to see nothing there. Her outfit and hands seemed as clean as ever. How odd was that?

"Are you alright, Maggie?" Ilaria asked in concern as she kneeled down next to Maggie on the ground. Maggie just looked up at her, slightly transfixed. Her mind started going over everything the girl had said to her previously and not to mention her odd behavior. There was also the fact that Ilaria could seemingly fly.

Something then came to Maggie's mind even though she kind of thought the idea was stupid. There was no way, right? These kinds of things didn't happen to boring people like Maggie. They just happened to cool and exciting people like Tony Stark or Steve Rogers. Nothing like this ever happened to Maggie Fisher who was just a boring Art History major that was still trying to figure out her life. She worked as a barista at a mediocre coffee shop by her house. This stuff never happened to normal people like her.

Boring people.

Maggie subsequently licked her thumb, wetting it with saliva, before she abruptly rubbed her thumb against Ilaria's face harshly. Ilaria furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but allowed the action nonetheless. Maybe this was just the weird way humans greeted each other. Maggie rubbed her thumb as hard as she could against the woman's face but was shocked to see that no paint came off.

Her breathing grew a little heavier as her fingers drifted towards the odd symbols etched into Ilaria's skin. The same symbols she thought were prosthetics. Maggie felt around the symbols to try and see if she could somehow peel the prosthetics off but she felt no rough edges around the symbols. Just smooth skin. Maggie was really starting to freak out now.

She desperately ran her hand down the woman's face before forcing her mouth open. Ilaria just stayed there, letting Maggie do whatever she wanted. She didn't know what else to do. Maggie looked inside her mouth but she didn't see anything beyond the ordinary. Human teeth and a human tongue. Maggie didn't know what she had expected. Maybe fangs and a forked tongue?

Lastly, Maggie began moving Ilaria's hair out of her face. She didn't know what she was looking for but she just needed to know if the theory she had in her head was right or not. The dark haired woman then paused suddenly as she caught sight of something she hadn't seen before. Ilaria's ears. Maggie stared at the ears in shock because they certainly didn't look like human ears. No, they were something else. Ilaria had ears that were pointed, resembling something more of an elf or vulcan. Maggie didn't waste any time reaching for Ilaria's ears before roughly pulling on them to see if they would come off. She thought that they might've been prosthetics too.

They're weren't.

"Ow!" Ilaria finally said as she then pulled away from Maggie. She rubbed her ears as she stared back at Maggie with a confused look on her face. "That hurt."

"Your ears…they're real." Maggie stated in astonishment as she just sat there staring at Ilaria.

"Yes. Why? Are yours not?" Ilaria questioned, not understanding Maggie's behavior.

"Your skin's really purple." Maggie said, ignoring her question. Ilaria just nodded.

"Yes." She answered. Maggie just slowly nodded as she tried to take this in.

"You're…an alien?" Maggie asked and Ilaria gave her a confused look.

"I'm a what?" Ilaria questioned and Maggie just stared back at her.

"You're an alien. You know...from outer space? Like Thor and Loki although you don't really seem to look like Thor and Loki." Maggie observed but Ilaria was just as confused as ever.

"I don't know a Thor or Loki." Ilaria told the girl honestly. Maggie just shook her head.

"But you're an alien like them. You're from another planet." Maggie's eyes then widened in realization. "Oh my god! You're not evil, are you? You're not here to attack New York like Loki?"

"No! Of course not!" Ilaria exclaimed as she furiously shook her head, disturbed by the very idea that Maggie thought she would do such a thing. "I'd never harm a human. I promise. I just wanted to find my mother and escape my father. I promise."

"Wait a second…that thing you said about your dad being a demon from another dimension. Was that true?" Maggie asked as she remembered what Ilaria said earlier. Ilaria nodded.

"I'm afraid so. He's from the darker part of the multiverse." Ilaria told her. "My father feeds off the fear of various creatures throughout the universe. There's a reason why they call him Nightmare. He controls people's dreams and shows them their worst fears then exploits their fear for his own gain." Maggie gulped.

"Great…so I'm never sleeping again." She said as she tried to process the fact that she was talking to the daughter of some kind of demonic entity from another dimension. Dimensions? There were other dimensions? Not just planets? Maggie was slowly losing her mind. "What are you even doing here? Why do you think your mother is here?"

"My mother's human. I was also born here before my father kidnapped me and imprisoned me in his dimension." Ilaria explained like it was totally normal. Maggie just swallowed hard.

"Right. So you're looking for your mother?" Maggie asked and Ilaria nodded.

"Yes. Do you know her?" She inquired and Maggie shrugged.

"I don't know, Ilaria. There's a lot of women on Earth. There's a good chance that I don't." Maggie told her and Ilaria supposed she had a point. Earth wasn't small like the Dream Dimension. There was a lot of humans that lived on Earth while in the Dream Dimension everyone knew each other.

"I suppose you have a point." Ilaria admitted.

"I'm just still trying to process the fact that I'm talking to a half demon/half human person who apparently came from another dimension." Maggie told her as she continued to stare at the girl in wonder. "How did you get here? A spaceship or something?"

"No, it was a portal that opened up in the Forest of Dreamscapes. It was conjured by the dark magic my father and his wives were using for my ceremony." Ilaria explained calmly and Maggie felt like she was going to have a panic attack. This girl overexplained everything yet explained nothing at all. Maggie was starting to feel overwhelmed.

"What were you even doing at Comic-Con? I didn't realize Comic-Con was frequented by beings from other dimensions." Maggie said as she tried not to think about the fact that Ilaria's dad was apparently some sort of scary demon. Ilaria shrugged which was a surprisingly human thing to do.

"I'm not sure. A kind lady on the street saw me and brought me inside." Ilaria said and Maggie thought that actually explained a lot. Maggie would've thought Ilaria was part of the Comic-Con if she had seen her walking around outside as well. The only thing was that Ilaria wasn't a Cosplayer. No, she was a very real person.

"So you like…fly?" Maggie asked her curiously as she started to calm down from her small panic attack. "What else can you do?"

"Well, I'm also an empath but I'm fairly good at astral projection as well." Ilaria informed her as Maggie listened to the girl intently. "There's also teleportation and energy projection but I haven't quite mastered those. Father said that I have more abilities that I'll discover in my immortal life but I'm not so sure. I am half human, after all. My mother's not a succubus like my sister's mother was."

"Immortal life?" Maggie questioned. "You're immortal?" Ilaria nodded.

"Only if I go through with the ceremony." Ilaria tried to explain to her although there was no way Maggie would ever begin to understand what Ilaria was talking about. However, Ilaria was oblivious to that knowledge. "I was able to escape the dream dimension before the ceremony. Father must be very crossed with me. I can't even imagine."

"I just can't believe I'm talking to an actual living, breathing person from another dimension right now." Maggie said as she was still trying to process the fact she was talking to someone like Ilaria. There was probably a thousand questions she wanted to ask her but her mind was currently blank.

"I can't believe I'm actually on earth. It's so nice to be home." Ilaria responded with a kind smile on her face. Maggie then gave the lavender skinned woman a hesitant look.

"Does anyone know you're here?" Maggie asked her slowly and Ilaria gave her a confused look.

"Like my father? I really hope not." Ilaria told her and Maggie shook her head.

"No, I meant does the government know you're here? Do the Avengers? I feel like if they knew you were here then they probably wouldn't let you walk around the city like this." Maggie told her.

"I have no clue what you're talking about." Ilaria said honestly and Maggie figured that probably meant that no one had a fucking clue that there was a being from another dimension in the city. Figures.

"Well, it's not my problem." Maggie said as she shrugged off any concern she might've had and instead grinned at Ilaria. "Hey, you can fly, right?"

"Yes. It's something I demonstrated with the children earlier." Ilaria told her and Maggie just nodded as a more excited look came over her face. An idea was forming in the college student's head as she stared at Maggie. It was a stupid idea but she was a college student, after all. She still hadn't reached the level of maturity that her parents wanted her to reach. It looked like that level of maturity wouldn't be reached for a long time either.

"So how strong are you, exactly?"

* * *

It was a boring day in the office for Matthew Callister as he tended to his normal duties in his boring office job. He knew his job was boring but it paid the rent and put dinner on the table. His job mostly dealt with customer service although he did change the ink in the printer on occasion. Sadly, changing the ink cartridge in the printer was probably the most exciting part of his day. Well, that and eating the lunch he picked up from the local deli.

"Callister, you got that report typed up yet?" Matthew's boss asked him. That was another huge con of his job. His boss was a kid barely out of college. It definitely made Matthew feel pretty shitty about himself.

"Yes, I'll have it done within the hour." Matthew told the man as he faked a smile. The young man then returned Matthew's smile before he walked away from the cubicle. The smile then immediately faded from Matthew's face as he resisted the urge to grumble some obscene nickname for his boss. Matthew was on the verge of banging his head against his desk when he heard one of his coworkers gasp from a distance away.

"Oh my god!" June, Matthew's coworker, exclaimed as she stared out the window. Matthew peeked his head up over his cubicle and noticed that numerous other coworkers were doing the same thing. June, a woman Matthew had been mentored by when he first got hired by the company over a decade before, was staring in shock and horror outside the window. Matthew didn't really know what would have her looking so shocked. They were on one of the top floors of a very large building in Manhattan. There wasn't much that could be seen from all the way up at the top.

"June, what is it?" Matthew asked in concern as he went racing over to his coworker and friend in concern. He was confused to see that the woman's gaze wasn't leaving the window. June didn't answer Matthew as she only swallowed hard before pointing outside the window. Matthew slowly turned his head to see what had her attention and when he did, he completely understood June's odd behavior.

"Holy shit." Matthew uttered as he looked at the sight outside the window. He was both surprised and left in awe to see something beyond the ordinary. Matthew felt like he had seen a lot during his time in New York. Like the alien invasion a couple years ago but he would never get used to seeing something like a woman flying through the air while holding another woman in her arms. Not only was this woman flying but she was also purple. Purple!

Was this some new member of the Avengers that no one was aware of yet. Was this woman on a mission or something? Matthew then took another look at the woman who flew past the window with the other human looking woman still in her arms. The two appeared to be laughing and having a good time so Matthew kind of figured that maybe this wasn't a mission. Did the Avengers do this now? Did they just galavant around the city for fun and freak people out?

"Think she's related to Thor?" Phillip Knox, another coworker, asked Matthew casually as he sipped his coffee and watched the sight outside the window with boredom. Matthew just gave him an incredulous look. He supposed seeing aliens fly around the city was just normal now. This was what the world had come to.

"No way." Erica Miller, one of the interns, argued as she filmed the whole thing on her iPhone. "She's purple and Thor's not."

"Maybe she's related to Vision." Another coworker said and Matthew noticed how everyone was crowded around the window watching the scene outside. There was nothing like a potential alien outside the window that made everyone slack off from work.

It seemed like their boss took notice in their lack of work as well as he stepped outside his office and glared at his employees with feigned authority. There was no doubt how clear it was to everyone that the kid had no fucking idea what he was doing. It was just the icing on the cake. A part of Matthew even wished that this alien would orchestrate an invasion. Anything that would get him out of this boring job. However, nothing of the sort happened and it seemed like Matthew was destined for this boring, sad job.

"Everyone ignore the weird alien outside the window and get back to work. The company's not paying you to gawk at aliens all day." The kid ordered and begrudgingly everyone went back to work. It seemed like they weren't getting a break this time. Ever since the world came to know the existence of aliens, the whole thing was a lot more normal than it should've been.

Matthew sighed tiredly as he went back to his mundane job just like all his other coworkers. However, the funny thing was that the employees inside that particular building weren't the only ones who noticed the purple looking alien outside their window. The flying purple alien seemed to a trending topic that day as more and more people noticed her presence. By noon, the whole city was made aware of the alien.

The ironic part was that the Avengers were actually some of the last to know.

* * *

Tony Stark was reeling from a long day in meetings as he tried to convince Thaddeus Ross not to shut the Avengers down. It seemed like Sokovia had been a tipping point for most people and especially politicians like Ross. Tony could actually see why people would blame the Avengers for Sokovia. He had been the one to create Ultron, after all, and it seemed like the entire team was now taking the fall for it which was never his intention. It seemed like he had messed things up a lot. Something he always seemed to do much to his own frustration.

It was a total of two months since Sokovia and somehow Tony felt worse than ever. He carried a large amount of guilt upon his shoulders ever since Sokovia even though Steve and the others tried to convince him it wasn't his fault. Tony knew that it was deep down. Just like the weapons had been his fault. It was almost like he couldn't do anything right and Tony didn't know how to fix it...how to make it better. He tried making it better but then Ultron happened and he just ended up making everything worse.

So much worse.

So despite everything and despite everyone trying to get him back with the group, Tony locked himself inside his lab most days. Maybe things would be different if Bruce was there but no one knew where he was. Sure there was Rhodey but there was a lot of things he didn't think Rhodey could understand about him. Even Pepper was getting frustrated with him at this point.

"Tony." Rhodey said as the man unexpectedly ran into Tony's lab from within the Avengers' Compound. Tony had been reconfiguring one of his suits when he glanced up at his friend in surprise. Usually everyone knew better than to come down into the lab but Rhodey never listened to him anyways.

"Rhodey." Tony said as he smirked at his friend, deciding that it was better to keep up appearances than risk his friend looking at him in concern like he usually did. "God...gloomy much? What? Did Cap kick your ass again?"

"Tony." Rhodey said again, the serious look on his face unwavering. Tony soon found himself frowning because he could tell that whatever was on Rhodey's mind, wasn't good.

"What is it?" Tony asked, his voice becoming much more grave as he started to fear for the worse.

"The team's up in the conference room. I think there's something you need to see." Rhodey told him. Okay...this wasn't good. Tony could already tell that much. He just hoped this wasn't another Loki or Ultron. Tony didn't think his mental state could handle something like that again. _This better an army of those teddy bears from Star Wars that are planning to take over the world because I can't deal with anything else_ , Tony thought to herself. While there was no army of ewoks in sight, Tony still didn't expect the real threat either.

* * *

" _Can you tell us your name?" Rachel Weathers, a reporter for the local news, asked nervously as she stood next to a lavender skinned woman with hair that was an even deeper shade of purple. It was obvious that the woman wasn't human as she stood next to the reporter but she didn't exactly look menacing either. The woman had a friendly smile on her face as she looked from the reporter to the camera._

" _My name is Ilaria." The woman introduced happily. The reporter just nodded as she moved on to her next question._

" _And what planet are you from?" The reporter asked her._

" _I actually came from another dimension as I explained to my good friend Maggie Fisher." Ilaria told the woman._

" _And what is the difference between a dimension and say a planet?" The reporter asked curiously and the woman seemed more than happy to answer._

" _Well, a dimension is almost a universe on it's own and separate from say this one." Ilaria explained but in all honesty she wasn't quite sure herself. Dimensions were a tricky thing to explain._

" _How interesting." The reporter said but she seemed slightly freaked out as she continued interviewing the woman. It was clear the woman was uncomfortable. "So what exactly is your purpose in being here?"_

" _I am here to find a woman. Perhaps you know her. She has beautiful blonde hair and eyes as hazel as mine." Ilaria told the reporter who only laughed nervously._

" _There's quite a few women who look like that. Maybe you could be more specific? Maybe you could give us a name?" The reporter inquired and a confused look came over the lavender skinned woman's face._

" _I do not remember a name." Ilaria told her and the reporter just nodded before continuing with the interview._

" _So how are you liking earth then? Are you finding it to your liking?" The woman asked her and Ilaria smiled before nodding furiously._

" _Earth is quite lovely. The people are very kind and welcoming too." Ilaria answered and the reporter smiled at her._

" _Well, you seem very kind and welcoming as well." The woman said before looking into the camera. "This is Rachel Weathers interviewing...Ilaria, the new visitor we seem to have in our city. We'll have more on her in tonight's news. Thank you and back to you, Carl."_

The interview then ended and the Avengers were all left silent by what they had just watched. None of them knew what to say. The only Avengers that were missing from the room were Bruce and Thor. Everyone else was in the conference room, including Maria Hill, as they all sat around the table, trying to gather their thoughts. However, Steve Rogers was the first to speak.

"Is this woman a hostile?" Steve inquired as he glanced around the room to see what everyone else thought of this situation.

"Could she be one of Thor's friends?" Natasha Romanoff inquired and Clint Barton immediately shook his head.

"I met some of Thor's friends in New Mexico. None of them looked like that." Clint pointed out and Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Are we sure this isn't a hoax? This isn't some random kid from Comic-Con?" Tony questioned and Maria sighed heavily.

"She was actually first spotted at the Comic-Con in Queens." Maria told him and Tony smirked.

"Well, there you have it." Tony said to everyone but Maria just shook her head as she continued.

"Then she was spotted doing this." Maria said before she brought up a bunch of videos on Youtube of the same woman on the news who was seemingly flying through the city. The videos were obviously taken on people's phones since the footage was a bit shaky and out of focus but it was clear to anyone with eyes that there was a purple skinned woman flying through the city. The Avengers were quite horrified to see her flying a random human woman through the city as well. The footage showed her flying in between skyscrapers and even flying past the Avengers Tower which was located in Manhattan.

"There was also a couple boys in Queens who posted a story on Facebook about a purple woman who flew up into a tree to retrieve their drone." Maria informed them.

The smug look then faded from Tony's face as he looked at all the footage of the woman flying through the city. His heart rate was increasing rapidly as he started to panic. The only thing Tony could think of was that this was going to be exactly like New York. This was another portal in the sky which threatened to destroy the entire world. All Tony could see as he looked at all the footage was the portal.

"Purple Alien is also the number one trending topic on Twitter. Everyone's talking about this so there's no way we can keep this quiet." Maria told everyone and it was only then that Tony broke out of his thoughts with a very serious look on his face. He tried to hide the panic he was feeling but he found it increasingly difficult as the existence of another alien was practically shoved into his face.

"Do we know what this...person wants?" Tony asked slowly and everyone turned to look at the unusually serious billionaire in surprise and intrigue because it wasn't often that he wasn't making jokes or annoying sarcastic comments.

"Not completely. She said she was looking for a woman in the interview but there's no way we can verify that." Sam Wilson told Tony with a calm expression on his face. Tony didn't know how he was this calm. This could potentially be another attack on New York yet he was talking about this like it was something non-threatening.

"So we have no idea who this girl is?" Wanda Maximoff inquired as she looked around the table.

"Not a clue." Rhodey answered. "We've checked all our databases and we even dug through some old Shield intel. So far we have nothing on this woman. She's completely unknown."

"So no one has any clue whether or not this woman is a threat?" Steve questioned in disbelief.

"She has yet to make any demands. She hasn't even made an attack yet." Natasha said as she also considered the potential threat of the unknown woman who was apparently from another dimension. None of them were entirely sure about that either. Planets were one thing but dimensions were another. The fact that this alien was from another dimension was almost too overwhelming for them to even start to consider.

"We need to consider all aspects of this situation before taking action." Vision announced, speaking up for the first time during the conversation. "The otherworldly being in question might not be a threat. Perhaps she is just passing through or, in fact, means no harm."

"We can't make assumptions like that." Clint told him.

"She hasn't made a move of attack." Vision reminded them but Natasha just shook her head.

"Clint's right." Natasha told the android. "We can't be making assumptions. She might not be a threat but we can't rule that out either. We know nothing about this girl."

"Well, we do know that this alien happens to have a higher approval rating than any of you." Maria stated as she looked up at the holographic screen. Everyone stared at the dark haired woman in confusion.

"Excuse me?" Wanda questioned, voicing everyone else's thoughts. Maria just nodded towards the screen where a bunch of statistics appeared.

"The News Channel she was featured on apparently took a survey and it turns out that this alien, Ilaria, has a much higher approval rating than any of you." Maria informed them much to the Avengers' disbelief. "She's about eleven points ahead of Cap, fifteen ahead of Tony, and she's even several points ahead of Thor which is odd since Thor's always had the highest approval rating." Tony scoffed.

"You're kidding me, right?" Tony questioned in disbelief. "This alien shows up all of a sudden and she manages to win the public's approval? Does no one recall the attack on New York three years ago? Is that all just water under the bridge?" Maria just shrugged.

"Well, she already won a Cosplay contest at Comic-Con, helped a couple of kids in Queens, and she's even been offered an endorsement deal from Sonics. Apparently she was seen eating there earlier today." Maria explained much to the Avengers' amazement. "Not to mention the fact that she's already proven that she's willing to do interviews and she seems like someone you'd want to be friends with. Hence the rides she's been giving people in Manhattan, free of charge."

"She did this all in a day?" Steve questioned in disbelief and Maria nodded.

"Yes and I have to say this alien has done more publicity in one day than any of you have done put together." Maria pointed out and Tony rolled his eyes. So this alien was apparently more popular than the Avengers now? Well, that was typical. Everyone seemed to hate their guts after Sokovia. Fury said that it would all die down eventually but Tony was starting not to think so.

"Great. Good to know." Tony said sarcastically before moving the conversation forward. "If we're going to do something, we need to do it now. We've gotta jump on this whole thing before this alien woman decides to attack New York. She might be Loki's girlfriend for all we know."

"Tony's right." Steve admitted, shocked that he was even able to utter the words, before he looked around the table at all his teammates. "We need to act very carefully which means we need to confront this woman and determine whether or not she's a threat."

"What if she's not a threat?" Wanda asked Steve curiously and Steve sighed heavily before answering.

"If she's not a threat then we'll bring her back to the compound and move forward from there." Steve told her and Natasha nodded in agreement.

"Either way, we need to get that woman off the streets before someone, whether it's her or someone else, gets hurt." Natasha added and everyone seemed to be in agreement over this.

They couldn't let this alien woman just walk around New York like this. It was too dangerous. For both her and other people. It was already bad enough that everyone already knew of her existence. Maybe the Avengers could at least control the outcome of the public knowing that a random alien was on earth if they were able to keep her at the compound for the time being.

"So we're all in agreement then?" Tony asked although he wasn't really asking. He was just making sure that everyone was on the same page. Everyone nodded. "Good. Let's see what this purple lady wants. Wow...never thought I would ever say something like that in a million years but after New York...well, I guess anything's possible. Right, guys?"

Steve gave the billionaire a slightly annoyed look but was secretly glad to see that the man was back to being his normal, rambling self. The super soldier then glanced around the table at all his teammates once more as he proceeded to step into captain mode as team leader. A serious and determined look was plastered across his face as he took charge of the situation at hand.

"Let's suit up."


End file.
